V 


/ 


CL 


^  LIBRARY 
OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  IU.INCS 


Campaign  Document  -No.  2 


PUBLISHED  AND  DISTRIBUTED 


BY  1HE 


1875. 


THE  CLINTON  RIOT. 


True  Statements 

sviowirvM  who  omGirvATisi> 

IT. 


A  Premeditated  Massacre  of  the  Whites. 


Testimony  of  While  ami  Colored 
Witnesses,  Under  Oatn. 

GEN.  J.  Z.  GEORGE : 

Chairman  Democratic  and  Conservative 
Executive  Committee : 

At  your  request  we  have  received  the 
statements  of  many  persons  who  wit¬ 
nessed  the  disturbance  at  Clinton  on  the 
4th  inst.,  which  we  now  hand  to  you. 
We  think  the  following  general  history  of 
the  matter,  is  fairly  sustained  by  these 
statements. 

An  invitation  was  extended  to  all  per¬ 
sons  to  attend  the  Republican  meeting 
and  Barbecue  at  Clinton.  There  was  to 
be  a  joint  discussion.  Accordingly  per¬ 
haps  sixty  or  seventy-five  white  men  went 
to  the  grounds.  There  were  from  one 
thousand  to  twelve  hundred  negro  men 
present.  As  many  perhaps  as  two  or 
three  hundred  went  there  armed  with 
pistols.  There  were  probably  twenty  or 


MSOQQE 


thirty  white  men  with  pistols  on  their 
persons — not  more  than  fifteen  of  whom 
participated  in  the  fighting.  Many  of  the 
negroes  went  to  Clinton  anticipating  a 
fight  and  armed  for  it,  and  seized  as  a 
pretext  for  the  affray  a  quarrel  between  a 
white  man  and  a  negro. 

o  % 

There  is  nothing  in  the  evidence  to 
show  that  there  was  a  drunken  man, 
white  or  colored,  on  the  grounds. 

The  inception  of  the  quarrel  is  envel¬ 
oped  in  obscurity.  But  in  the  light  of 
the  subsequent  action  of  the  whites  we 
do  not  regard  the  merits  of  this  alterca¬ 
tion  as  important — at  all  events  there 
was  an  altercation  between  a  white  man 
and  a  colored  man.  The  former  left  the 
negro,  joined  a  small  party  of  white  men 
a  distance  of  about  one  hundred  yards 
from  the  speaker’s  stand,  followed  by  the 
colored  man.  This  party  of  whites  con¬ 
sisted  at  first  of  four  or  five,  soon  in¬ 
creased  to  about  eleven;  was  sligntly 
scattered  in  small  groups.  Some  colored 
man  cried  “a  fight!”  and  called  to  the 
colored  men  “to  come  on.”  Immediate¬ 
ly  orders  were  given  to  “rally;”  the 
drums  were  beaten;  the  cry  of  “kill  the 
white  men”  was  raised,  and  a  large  mass 
of  negroes,  armed  with  pistols  and  knives 
and  brandishing  clubs  pressed  down  on 
the  party  of  whites.  The  crowd  of  negroes 
numbered  probably  as  many  as  three  hun¬ 
dred.  The  whites,  about  eleven  in  num¬ 
ber,  gave  way  and  retreated  about  forty 
yards,  along  a  little  branch,  asking  the 


The  Clinton  Riot . 


negroes  to  stand  back,  and  to  keep  the 
peace  ;  and  saying  they  desired  no  diffi¬ 
culty.  The  negroes  in  their  front  pressed 
on,  crying  “kill  them.”  After  retreating 
this  distance,  another  crowd  of  negroes 
came  down  on  them,  coming  from  an 
opposite  direction.  After  the  altercation 
commenced  and  before  the  firing  began, 
the  whites  made  every  effort  to  avoid  a 
fight.  Abouf  this  time,  a  pistol  in  the 
hands  of  Mr.  Thompson,  (a  white  man), 
was  discharged  accidentally,  the  ball 
going  in  the  ground  at  his  feet.  A  shot 
was  next  fired  by  a  colored  man,  which 
struck  young  Mr.  Wharton.  The  firing 
instantly  became  general.  The  whites 
stopped  and  fired  vigorously.  Two  ne¬ 
groes  were  killed  on  the  spot,  and  four  or 
five  wounded,  and  the  crowd  in  front  of 
the  whites  retreated.  The  white  men 
then  commenced  leaving  the  ground  in 
small  parties.  The  negroes  were  rallied, 
by  one  of  their  number,  who  told  them 
not  to  let  the  white  men  escape,  and  the 
pursuit  began;  separate  crowds  of  ne¬ 
groes  pursuing  in  different  directions  the 
retreating  groups  of  whites.  Sively 
and  Thompson  (white),  were  overtaken, 
killed  and  their  bodies  mutilated.  Chas. 
Chilton  was  killed  in  his  own  yard.  Capt. 
White  was  captured,  shot,  stabbed,  and 
beaten,  and  left  for  dead.  Rice,  Wells, 
Wharton,  Robinson,  (all  white),  and 
perhaps  several  others  were  wounded. 

It  was  subsequently  reported  that  the 
negroes  threatened  to  attack  the  town, 
and  consequently,  during  Saturday  night, 
between  four  and  five  hundred  armed 
white  men  were  concentrated  in  Clinton, 
from  Vicksburg,  Jackson,  and  the  coun¬ 
ty  for  the  protection  of  the  town. 

During  Saturday  night  and  Sunday 
morning,  perhaps  seven  or  eight  negroes, 
who  were  supposed  to  be  leaders  in  the 
affray,  were  killed  by  the  whites,*  who 
were  indignant  at  the  murder  and  muti¬ 
lation  of  their  white  friends. 

Early  Sunday  morning  most  of  the 
white  men  returned  to  their  homes.  A 
few  remaining  at  the  request  of  the 
Mayor  during  Sunday  night,  as  a  police 
force. 

By  Monday  morning,  as  the  Mayor  of 
Clinton  states,  the  town  and  neighbor¬ 
hood  were  quiet,  and  peace  was  restored. 


In  justice  to  the  memory  of  Martin 
Sively,  we  deem  it  our  duty  to  state  that 
he  had  no  connection  with  the  com¬ 
mencement  of  the  disturbance.  His 
conduct  was  beyond  reproach.  He  was 
an  estimable  gentleman,  and  a  sober  and 
exemplary  citizen.  We  make  this  state¬ 
ment  to  correct  an  unjust  rumor  that  he 
was  the  originator  of  the  difficulty. 

E.  W.  Cabinis, 

S.  M.  Shelton, 
Frank  Johnston. 


Walter  A.  Bracey  (white) — I  reside 
in  Raymond;  am  a  dentist  by  profession; 
I  came  to  Clinton  last  Saturday  morning 
on  the  occasion  of  the  Republican  barbe¬ 
cue;  perhaps  as  many  as  fifteen  white 
gentlemen  from  Raymond  came  to  Clin¬ 
ton  that  day;  there  was  no  disposition  or 
intention  on  the  part  of  any  of  these 
gentlemen  to  disturb  the  peace,  or  to  in¬ 
terfere  with  or  interrupt  in  any  way  any 
colored  men  or  any  Republican,  so  far  as 
I  know  and  believe;  I  may  safely  say  no 
such  intention  existed;  the  gentlemen 
from  Raymond  did  not  come  to  Clinton 
in  a  body,  but  separately  and  in  the  usual 
and  customary  mode,  by  private  convey¬ 
ances,  on  horseback  and  in  buggies;  the 
object  was  simply  to  hear  the  speaking  at 
this  barbecue;  about  12  o’clock  I  went 
out  to  the  ground  selected  for  the  barbe¬ 
cue;  most,  if  not  all  the  Raymond  white 
men  went  out  to  the  grounds;  a  few  of 
the  Clinton  white  men  went  out  to  the 
grounds,  and  others  from  the  neighbor¬ 
hood;  I  do  not  think  there  were  over 
forty  white  men  on  the  grounds;  I  saw 
part  of  a  negro  procession  as  it  came  in 
Clinton;  I  only  remained  in  Clinton  a 
short  time  before  going  out  to  the  place 
of  the  meeting,  and  I  did  not  notice  the 
negroes  particularly;  I  noticed,  however, 
that  the  negro  in  charge  of  this  proces¬ 
sion  had  a  drawn  sword;  I  am  sure  there 
was  not  an  intoxicated  white  man  on  the 
grounds  during  the  day,  nor  did  I  see  an 
intoxicated  negro;  there  was  not  a  dis¬ 
orderly  or  turbulent  white  man  on  the 
grounds;  my  opinion  is,  not  more  than 
fifteen  or  twenty  white  men,  at  most, 
were  armed;  there  was  not  a  white  man 
armed  with  a  gun  on  the  grounds;  seve- 


The  Clinton  Riot. 


3 


ral  of  the  Raymond  white  men  were  not 
armed  at  all;  the  meeting  was  held  at  a 
grove  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  in  a 
northwesterly  direction  from  Clinton, 
about  300  yards  from  the  Upper  Vicks¬ 
burg  road,  and  between  it  and  the  rail¬ 
road  (V.  &  M.  R.R.);  the  speakers’  stand 
is  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  lrom  the 
point  where  the  public  road  crosses  the 
railroad,  and  this  crossing  is  between  the 
speakers’  stand  and  the  town  of  Clinton, 
and  pretty  nearly  on  a  straight  line  to¬ 
wards  Clinton  ;  a  few  of  the  Raymond 
gentlemen,  I  think,  the  two  young  Whar¬ 
tons,  Vink  Waddell  and  Thompson,  and 
perhaps  young  Huntly,  about  ten  or  fif¬ 
teen  minutes  before  the  fight,  had  been 
lunching  at  a  wagon;  after  lunching, 
they  walked  to  their  own  wagon,  about 
twenty  steps  distant  from  where  they  had 
lunched ;  this  latter  wagon  was  at  a 
branch  in  a  little  bottom  near  a  group  of 
willows,  about  100  yards  from  the  speak¬ 
ers’  stand ;  I  passed  this  party  a  short 
time — a  few  minutes — before  the  fight ; 
they  were  very  near  the  wagon  ;  some 
were  seated  in  chairs  and  some  were 
standing ;  they  were  laughing  and  chat¬ 
ting  among  themselves,  and  all  in  a  good 
humor;  none  of  them  were  intoxicated, 
and  not  one  of  them  was  in  the  least 
disorderly ;  I  am  certain  of  this;  I  passed 
them  and  walked  towards  the  stand  and 
near  to  it,  accompanied  by  Martin  Sivley; 
Sivley  was  sober — in  fact,  I  know  that 
lie  did  not  drink,  and  has  not  used  any 
liquor  for  at  least  three  years  ;  we  stood 
(Sivley  and  I)  near  the  stand  a  few  min¬ 
utes,  when  my  attention  was  attracted  by 
a  rush  of  negroes  towards  the  spot  where 
1  left  the  Raymond  party,  and  by  the 
remarks  of  the  negroes  as  they  moved 
down,  to  “  come  on,  we  are  going  to  have 
a  fight  ”;  the  negroes  near  me  commenced 
drawing  pistols  and  moving  in  that  direc¬ 
tion  ;  I  was  surrounded  by  negroes,  and 
every  one  I  noticed  had  a  pistol  in  his 
hand  ;  not  a  shot  had  then  been  fired  ;  I 
heard  nothing  of  what  was  transpiring 
down  at  the  branch  ;  I  heard  several  or¬ 
ders  given  to  the  negroes  to  “  fall  in,”  or 
‘  ‘  form  ranks,  and  come  on”  ;  I  then 
heard  the  drums,  and  just  after  the  drums 
beat  a  pistol  shot  was  fired  and  the  firing 


commenced  ;  before  the  shot  was  fired, 
however,  Sivley  and  I  walked  towards 
the  group  of  willows  on  the  branch  ;  we 
were  enveloped  in  a  crowd  of  negroes, 
numbering  several  hundred,  that  were 
rushing  towards  the  spot,  and  in  fact  we 
were  borne  along  by  the  crowd  ;  I  reached 
the  wagon  at  the  group  of  willows,  where 
I  had  left  the  Raymond  men  before  the 
firing  commenced  ;  the  Raymond  white 
men  whom  I  had  left  at  the  wagon  were 
not  at  the  wagon,  but  they  had  retreated 
at  least  forty  steps  from  the  wagon  before 
the  crowd  of  negroes ;  the  negroes,  a 
dense  mass  several  hundred  in  number, 
were  crowding  close  on  them,  and  pushed 
so  close  to  them  that  I  soon  afterwards 
lost  sight  of  them  ;  it  was  at  this  point 
that  the  first  pistol  was  fired,  by  whom  I 
do  not  know  ;  the  nrst  shot  that  I  saw 
fired,  which  was  the  second  shot  I  heard, 
was  fired  by  a  negro  at  young  Ramsey 
Wharton,  hitting  him  in  the  head  ;  Siv¬ 
ley  was  with  me  at  the  time  ;  immediate¬ 
ly  after  the  first  shot  a  general  firing 
commenced ;  the  negroes  continued  to 
rush  down  to  the  spot ;  the  negroes  then 
retreated  a  little  on  one  side  of  this 
crowd,  but  the  drums  continued  to  beat, 
and  numbers  of  negroes  cried  “  come 
on,”  and  they  rallied  ;  there  were  not 
exceeding  twelve  white  men  on  this  part 
of  the  ground  engaged  in  the  fight ;  I 
am  informed  that  in  addition  to  these, 
several  other  white  men,  not  more  than 
three  or  four,  whom  I  did  not  see,  were 
engaged  in  the  fight ;  they  were  broken 
into  little  groups  a  few  paces  apart,  and 
were  being  crowded  on  by  the  negroes  ; 
the  white  men  retreated  all  the  time,  de¬ 
fending  themselves  as  well  as  they  could; 
all  the  while  the  white  men  were  giving 
way  before  the  negroes,  I  heard  them 
asking  for  peace  and  asking  the  negroes 
to  stop  firing  on  them  ;  the  negroes  were 
I  crying,  “kill  them,  damn  them,  kill 
I  them”;  the  white  men  were  soon  scat¬ 
tered,  and  those  who  were  not  killed 
made  the  best  of  their  way  from  the 
!  field  ;  Sivley  and  I  started  to  leave  ;  we 
i  were  at  first  separated  by  a  rush  of  ne¬ 
groes ;  we  came  together'again,  still  re¬ 
treating,  about  two  hundred  yards  from 
where  the  firing  commenced;  the  negroes 


4 


The  Clinton  Riot. 


were  then  on  us,  firing  and  some  striking 
us  with  empty  pistols  ;  at  this  point,  Siv- 
ley  begged  them  not  to  kill  him,  saying 
he  had  not  commenced  the  difficulty ; 
the}''  told  him  to  give  up  his  pistol ;  he 
handed  his  pistol  to  a  negro,  holding  it 
by  the  barrel  and  presenting  the  handle ; 
as  one  negro  took  the  pistol,  another  ne¬ 
gro  knocked  him  down  with  a  pistol, 
breaking  the  pistol  by  the  blow  ;  Sively 
staggered  to  his  feet,  and  he  and  I  ran 
off  towards  a  cotton  held,  negroes  pur¬ 
suing,  firing  at  us  and  crying  “  kill  them, 
damn  them,  kill  them”;  Sivley,  as  he 
ran,  was  bleeding  from  three  wounds ; 
we  had  gone  perhaps  one  hundred  yards 
into  the  field,  when  Martin  Sivley  fell, 
struck  by  a  negro  from  behind  ;  I  ran  on 
into  a  little  branch,  and  stopped  a  mo¬ 
ment  somewhat  concealed  ;  ten  or  twelve 
negroes  surrounded  him,  and  I  heard 
them  striking  him  ;  after  that  I  came  on 
to  Clinton  ;  after  the  firing  became  gen¬ 
eral,  the  white  men  (as  I  have  described 
them)  became  separated  and  I  lost  sight 
of  them,  and  cannot  say  how  they  left  the 
ground  or  how  they  escaped  ;  I  saw  two 
negroes  dead  on  the  grounds,  and  four  or 
five  others  that  I  supposed  to  be  wound¬ 
ed  ;  I  have  since  ascertained  that  three 
white  men  were  killed  and  about  eight 
wounded  (Charles  Chilton  is  included, 
who  was  killed  in  his  own  yard,  as  I  have 
been  informed).  I  will  here  state  that 
when  I  reached  the  group  of  willows 
where  I  had  left  the  party  of  Raymond 
gentlemen,  and  where  the  altercation  first 
began,  I  found  that  the  crowd  of  armed 
negroes  had  crowded  them  from  the  spot, 
and  they  had  retreated  about  forty  paces 
before  the  fight  began ;  when  I  reached 
the  wagon  at  the  group  of  willows  they 
were  still  retreating;  there  were  not  more 
than  eleven  white  men,  not  all  quite  to¬ 
gether,  but  a  little  separated  in  small 
groups  ;  as  the  white  men  gave  back,  and 
before  the  fighting  began,  I  could  hear 
them  (the  white  men)  saying  to  the  ne¬ 
groes  to  “go  back,”  that  “  there  was  no 
difficulty,”  “  no  fuss,”  and  that  they 
“  wanted  no  difficulty”;  and  the  negroes, 
many  of  them,  at  this  time  (and  before 
the  firing)  said,  “  kill  them,  damn  them, 
kill  them”;  at  this  precise  point  of  time, 


while  the  white  men  were  frdling  back 
and  the  negroes  pushing  on  them,  I 
think  the  negroes  at  that  place  and  in  the 
crowd  that  was  pushing  forward  num¬ 
bered  several  hundred,  certainly  more 
than  three  hundred  ;  many  of  them  were 
armed  ;  I  saw  numbers  with  pistols  in 
their  hands  ;  I  could  safely  say  I  saw  as 
many  as  one  hundred  ;  many  negroes  had 
uplifted  sticks ;  I  could  see  the  sticks  above 
the  heads  in  the  crowd ;  several  had 
branches  of  trees  in  their  hands,  and  one 
had  a  pole  ten  feet  long ;  this  was  the 
attitude  of  the  negroes  as  they  crowded 
on  the  white  men  before  the  fighting  ac¬ 
tually  commenced;  I  was  not  with  the 
largest  party  of  white  men  I  have  spoken 
of,  consisting  of  eleven  or  twelve,  but  off 
twenty  paces  with  Sivley,  and  I  think 
Mr.  Neal  was  with  me  ,  none  of  us,  that 
is  Sivley,  Neal  or  I,  drew  a  pistol  until 
the  fighting  commenced  and  the  negroes 
attacked  us ;  I  had  a  bullet  hole  through 
my  coat  before  I  drew  my  pistol ;  I  think 
the  negroes  had  crowded  right  up  on  the 
white  men,  and  had  actually  closed  up 
against  them  before  the  firing  commenced; 
I  do  not  think  there  were  more  than  fif¬ 
teen  or  sixteen  white  men  who  participat¬ 
ed  in  the  fighting,  and,  as  I  have  stated, 
the  little  groups  who  were  pressed  by  the 
negroes,  and  who  were  retreating,  as  I 
have  already  described, consisted  of  about 
eleven  men.  In  conclusion,  I  will  state 
that  the  party  of  negroes  who  pursued 
Sivley  and  I  was  led  by  Charles  Cald¬ 
well,  Jr.;  I  saw  him  (Caldwell)  shoot  at 
us  several  times;  lam  unable  to  state 
how  the  quarrel  at  the  group  of  willows 
began,  or  the  persons  who  commenced 
the  altercation. 

W.  A.  BRA.CEY. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me, 
the  10th  September,  1875. 

[seal.]  Silas  J.  Carey,  J.P. 


Morris  Ward  (white  Democrat) — I  live 
at  Raymond  at  present ;  came  to  Clinton 
on  last  Saturday,  Sept.  4th;  I  went  out 
to  the  barbecue  about  twelve  o’clock  ; 
while  Fisher  (Republican)  was  speaking, 
I  was  standing  on  the  outskirts  of  the 
crowd  that  was  gathered  around  the 


The  Clinton  Riot. 


speakers’  stand  ;  the  first  thing  that  at¬ 
tracted  my  attention  was  a  rush  of  ne¬ 
groes  in  the  direction  of  the  group  of 
willows  where  the  wagon  of  some  of  the 
Raymond  men  was  standing ;  I  moved 
down  in  that  direction,  and  got  pretty 
close  to  this  wagon,  where  I  had  seen  the 
Kaymond  boys  a  short  time  before  ;  the 
negroes  were  running  by  me  drawing 
their  pistols,  and  pressing  down  on  a 
small  party  of  white  men,  about  ten  to 
fifteen  ;  this  party  of  white  men  was  scat¬ 
tered. in  little  groups,  a  few  paces  between 
the  groups ;  some  of  the  negroes  said 
‘‘shoot  them,”  others  said  “kill  them 
these  white  men  were  falling  back  before 
the  negroes,  and  the  negroes  were  press¬ 
ing  them ;  I  could  hear  the  white  men 
talking  and  pleading  with  the  negroes  for 
peace ;  I  heard  them  say  they  did  not 
want  a  fuss  ;  the  negroes  did  not  stop  at 
at  all  but  continued  to  press  on ;  the 
white  men  did  not  turn  their  backs  in 
retreating,  but  backed  off  from  the  ne¬ 
groes  while  asking  for  peace;  they  retreat¬ 
ed  because  the  crowd  of  negroes  pressed 
on  them  so  closely ;  the  negroes  from 
other  parts  of  the  ground  continued  also  to 
reinforce  this  crowd  of  negroes  that  were 
pressing  the  retreating  whites  ;  the  drums 
were  beaten  ;  the,  negroes  called  to  each 
other  to  “rally,”  to  “come  in  and  kill  the 
damn  whites,”  and  “damn  sons  of 
bitches I  saw  the  negroes  close  up, 
almost  touching  the  whites,  and  a  large 
negro  in  the  front  of  the  negroes  holding 
a  large  pistol  uplifted  in  his  hand ;  at 
this  time  the  whites  had  retreated  about 
forty  yards,  and  another  stream  of  negroes 
had  approached  them  from  nearly  an 
opposite  direction  ;  I  would  suppose  that 
about  three  hundred  negroes  were  in  the 
crowd  which  was  pressing  the  whites ; 
all  the  negroes  I  noticed  were  armed  ; 
Many  had  pistols,  and  those  who  had  no 
pistols  had  sticks  and  clubs  and  knives ; 

I  saw  them  drawing  their  pistols  as  they 
ran  down  to  the  spot,  and  as  soon  as  the 
first  intimation  was  given  that  a  quarrel 
was  going  on,  they  commenced  drawing 
their  pistols.  About  the  time  that  this 
crowd  of  negroes  were  so  close  to  the 
white  men  that  they  could  touch  them 
with  their  hands,  a  shot  was  fired  ;  I 


cannot  tell  by  whom,  whether  by  a  white 
man  or  negro;  in  two  seconds  a  general  fir¬ 
ing  commenced  ;  I  saw  the  whites  make  a 
stand  and  fire  vigorously ;  then  some  of 
the  white  men  retreated,  and  most  of  the 
negroes  retreated  ;  the  whites  did  not 
folloiv,  but  separated  and  commenced 
leaving  the  ground  in  little  groups  of 
two  or  three  ;  then  one  negro  gave  a  yell 
and  said  “God  damn  it,  are  you  going 
to  let  these  whites  off  without  killing 
them  ;”  there  was  one  white  man  still 
shooting ;  the  negroes  then  commenced 
coming  back  ;  Capt.  White  (a  whiteman) 
then  said  “boys,  stay  together  or  we 
will  be  all  murdered  I  saw  Capt.  White 
up  the  hill  in  the  direction  of  Clinton  ; 
the  white  men  were  badly  scattered 
making  their  way  singly  and  in  twos  to¬ 
wards  Clinton  ;  the  fiegroes  having  ral¬ 
lied  came  up  and  divided  into  crowds 
that  followed  in  various  directions  the 
white  men ;  that  is  each  whit-;  man 
and  every  two  white  men  who  were  to¬ 
gether,  were  followed  by  a  separate  crowd 
of  negroes;  the  negroes  were  still  shoot¬ 
ing  ;  the  white  men  had  quit  firing, 
most  of  them  had  no  loads  in  their  pistols 
and  were  begging  the  negroes  not  to  kill 
them;  I  could  hear  the  negroes  say  “kill 
them,  God  damn  them,  kill  them;”  the 
negro  women  came  up  and  encouraged 
the  negro  men  ;  the  whites  seemed  afraid 
to  run,  but  were  then  walking  off,  soon 
afterwards  some  of  them  did  run  ;  I  left 
the  grounds  pursued  by  the  negroes ; 
before  I  reached  the  railroad  crossing  a 
negro  came  up  with  me  and  pointed  a 
pistol  in  my  face,  and  another  who  called 
me  “Buckley”  made  him  desist;  another 
negro  came  up  and  said  “damn  him,  kill 
him,  lie’s  a  white  man  ;”  another  negro 
pursued  me  with  a  hatchet,  when  Dr. 
West,  a  white  man,  passed  between  us 
on  a  horse,  and  I  then  got  off  to  the 
railroad  ;  I  could  not  see  what  became 
of  the  other  white  men,  the  confusion 
was  so  great  and  they  were  so  scattered  ; 
when  I  reached  the  railroad  crossing,  1 
saw  ten  or  twelve  negroes  on  the  crossing, 
some  with  pistols,  who  shot  at  me  as  I 
passed  some  distance  from  them  ;  I  next 
saw  a  group  of  negroes  in  the  railroad 
below  the  crossing,  shooting  ;  I  saw  an- 


6 


The  Clinton  Riot . 


other  group  of  about  ten  negroes  in  the 
tan-yard  shooting  at  Mr.  Wells  who  was 
passing  in  a  buggy  ;  I  avoided  this  group 
and  came  into  Clinton  ;  I  suppose  about 
fifteen  white  men  participated  in  the 
fight,  and  I  think  there  were  about  sixty 
white  men  on  the  ground  ;  in  conclu¬ 
sion,  I  will  state  that  just  before  the  firing 
commenced  I  said  to  Charles  Caldwell, 
Sr.,  who  was  not  more  than  a  few  steps 
from  the  party  of  white  men  I  have 
already  described,  that  he  must,  for  God’s 
sake,  stop  this  fuss  ;  I  heard  him  say,  “I 
am  trying  to  stop  it I  am  sure  Cald¬ 
well  tried  his  best  to  stop  the  difficulty 
and  to  keep  the  peace  ;  I  can  safely  say 
Caldwell  did  not  participate  in  the  fight, 
and  I  think  I  was  in  a  position  to  have 
seen  and  known  it  if  he  had,  for  I  was 
standing  near  him  ;  I  do  not  think  Cald¬ 
well  was  armed  ;  I  certainly  saw  no  arms 
on  him.  I  was  born  in  Ireland,  came  to 
America  in  1849;  lived  in  New  York 
about  seven  years,  in  Illinois  until  1866, 
and  came  to  Mississippi  in  1866.  I  saw 
no  white  men  on  the  grounds  with  guns ; 
none  of  the  whites  had  guns;  and  I  saw 
none  of  the  negroes  with  guns. 

M.  Ward. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me  this 
September  10th,  1875. 

[seal.]  Silas  J.  Carey,  J.  P. 


The  sworn  statement  of  B.  S.  White: — 
I  live  four  miles  west  of  Raymond,  in 
Hinds  county,  Miss.  Having  heard  that 
there  was  to  be  a  joint  political  discussion 
at  Clinton,  Miss.,  on  Saturday,  the  4th 
September, 1875,  and  that  the  white  people 
were  invited  to  attend,  I,  in  company 
with  several  others,  attended,  reaching 
the  town  of  Clinton  about  11  o’clock  A.M. 
We  got  to  the  place  of  meeting  about  12 
o’clock  m.,  where  we  found  a  large  number 
of  negroes  and  very  few  whites.  After 
we  got  there  a  large  procession — said  to 
be  from  Edwards  Depot — came  in.  After 
they  had  all  dismounted,  Judge  Johnston 
took  the  stand  and  commenced  speaking. 
I  walked  around  through  the  crowd  in 
different  directions.  I  found  the  negroes 
very  turbulent  on  every  part  of  the 
grounds,  making  threats  and  declaring 
they  were  going  to  have  their  way  there, 


that  day.  They  frequently  rubbed  against 
me,  seeming  to  be  trying  to  provoke  a 
difficulty.  Some  of  the  white  boys  had  been 
drinking.  I  went  to  them  and  told  them 
not  to  touch  any  more  whisky,  saying  to 
them  that  there  was  an  immense  crowd  of 
negroes  there,  and  very  few  whites,  and  it 
was  manifest  to  me  that  the  negroes  were 
eager  for  a  difficulty,  and  they  would  use 
any  pretext  for  beginning  it ;  that  if  a 
shot  cracked  it  might  begin.  Just  before 
Judge  Johnston  finished  speaking,  I  went 
among  a  crowd  of  negroes  gathered  on 
the  south  side  of  the  speaker’s  stand.  I 
heard  one  negro  say,  “Who  is  that 
speaking?”  Another  said,  “Johnston,  I 
believe.”  The  first  then  replied  :  “I  did 
not  come  here  to  hear  any  such  damned 
stuff  as  that ;  I  want  him  to  get  down 
from  there ;  I  want  to  hear  Fisher 
speak.”  Another  said,  “Well,  I  reckon  he 
will  soon  be  through,  then  we  will  have  it 
all  our  own  way.”  I  went  back  to  where 
I  had  left  the  boys.  Two  of  them  were 
going  off  down  the  hill.  I  called  to  know 
where  they  were  going;  they  said,  “We 
have  a  bottle  a  whisky  down  here.”  I 
then  made  them  come  back  ;  telling  them 
to  remain  where  thev  were,  near  the 
speaker’s  stand.  Just  before  Johnston 
closed,  the  negroes  had  become  so  boister¬ 
ous  and  dissatisfied,  and  seemed  so 
determined  to  prevent  any  one  from 
hearing  him,  that  I  remarked  to  a  friend 
that  Johnston  had  better  quit,  as  the 
negroes  seemed  so  much  dissatisfied  ;  that 
I  was  sure  he  was  doing  no  good.  They 
were  very  restless,  walking  about  and 
making  all  kinds  of  noises,  disturbing 
every  portion  of  the  crowd.  Pretty  soon 
Johnston  closed  speaking.  Fisher  was 
then  called  for,  who  at  once  responded. 
Immediately  the  negroes  became  quiet, 
and  all  was  still.  The  negroes  saying,  now 
we  will  hear  something  good.  Johnston’s 
speech  was  very  kind  and  conciliatory. 
The  best  speech  I  ever  heard  him  make  to 
the  negroes,  so  far  as  I  could  hear  it. 
Fisher  had  been  speaking  some  eight  min¬ 
utes  when  some  person  in  the  upper  part  of 
the  crowd  made  some  remark — I  could  not 
hear  what  it  was.  Immediately  there  was 
a  rush  of  negroes  in  that  direction.  I  went 
there  and  found  a  young  man,  who,  I 


The  Clinton  Riot. 


7 


was  told,  was  McNeal.  I  told  him  he 
must  make  no  remarks  in  that  crowd ; 
that  the  young  men  from  Raymond  had 
agreed  to  put  themselves  under  my  orders, 
and  as  he  had  gotten  with  them  he  must 
do  the  same  thing,  and  I  would  have  no 
talking  in  the  crowd.  I  then  returned  to 
where  I  had  left  the  Raymond  boys — near 
the  stand.  Pretty  soon  I  noticed  a  rush  of 
negroes  to  a  bottom  about  a  hundred  yards 
north  of  the  stand  ;  I  told  the  boys  to  re¬ 
main  and  I  would  go  and  see  about  it.  I 
ran  down  and  jumped  into  a  buggy;  I  saw 
a  large  crowd  of  negroes  surrounding  two 
of  our  boys  and  trying  to  get  something 
from  them.  Neither  of  these  boys  was 
Martin  Sivley  or  Thompson;  I  left  both  of 
these  young  men  at  the  stand.  Thompson 
was  then  talking  to  Capt.  Lake,  of  Jack- 
son,  and  I  told  Martin  Sivley  to  keep  the 
boy  sat  the  stand  until  I  returned.  I  called 
out  to  the  crowd  to  stop  that  fuss,  and  to 
the  negroes  to  let  the  boys  alone.  They 
seemed  to  heed  me,  and  all  would  soon 
have  become  quiet,  but  just  at  this  time 
a  negro  from  about  Edwards  Depot, 
wearing  yellow  epaulets,  called  out  in  a 
loud  voice,  “We  did  not  come  here  to 
let  no  God  damned  white  trash  run  over 
us;  this  is  our  day.”  Just  at  this  time 
Chas.  Caldwell,  Sr.,  came  into  the  crowd, 
followed  by  about  100  negroes.  He  said, 
“  Stop  this  damned  fuss  here ;  I  am 
going  to  have  it  stopped.”  Pushing  his  way 
through  the  crowd  he  reached  the  whites 
saying,  “Get  out  of  here;  get  out  of 
here,  you  damned  rascals,  and  stop  this 
noise.  One  of  the  white  boys  said,  “We 
are  interfering  with  nobody ;  we  do  not 
wish  to  disturb  anybody,  nor  create  any 
disturbance ;  but  we  will  not  be  run 
over.”  Just  at  that  time  the  firing  be¬ 
gan.  I  cannot  say  positively  who  fired 
first ;  but  I  sincerely  believe  that  the  first 
shot  was  fired  by  the  negro  from  Edwards 
Depot,  with  yellow  epaulets  before  spoken 
of.  I  was  standing  in  a  buggy  above  the 
crowd  where  I  commanded  a  good  view  of 
all,  and  I  saw  the  smoke  rise  from  a 
pistol  in  his  hands.  Just  before  the  pistol 
fired  I  heard  a  drum  beat.  By  the  time 
the  firing  began  the  crowd  of  negroes  had 
become  very  dense  around  the  boys.  As 
the  negroes  came  they  were  brandishing 
their  pistols,  crying,  “Run  over  the 


whites ;  kill  the  damned  whites  ;  run  over 
them,  God  damn  them  ;  run  over  them,” 
I  think  I  saw  not  less  than  three  hun¬ 
dred  negroes  with  pistols  in  their  hands. 
As  soon  as  the  firing  begun,  the  negroes 
commenced  falling  back  rapidly,  and  in  a 
few  minutes  the  bottom  was  cleared. 
Immediately  then  an  immense  crowd  of 
negroes  came  rushing  down  from  the  hill 
firing  indiscriminately  into  their  own 
people.  By  this  time  the  boys  were 
making  for  the  stand,  leaving  me  alone. 
I  called  to  them  to  fail  in  on  me  and 
reserve  their  fire,  as  we  must  get  out  of 
there.  At  this  moment  a  negro  ran  up 
tome,  crying,  “There  is  one  of  the 
damned  rascals — kill  him.”  I  turned 
and  faced  him  ;  telling  him  to  get  away 
as  I  did  not  wish  to  kill  him  unless  it  was 
necessary.  He  stopped,  and  one  of  the 
boys  asked  me  to  let  him  shoot  him  ;  I 
told  him,  “No,  do  not  shoot  unless  it  is 
necessary.”  We  then  moved  on  toward 
the  prairie  —  southeast  of  the  stand — [ 
telling  the  boys  to  keep  closed  up 
and  fall  in  on  me.  As  we  got 
to  the  edge  of  the  prairie,  I  saw  Morris 
Ward,  and  called  to  him  to  fall  in  with 
us  ;  asking  him  could  we  not  get  ten  men 
together  ;  as  I  had  just  seen  some  twenty- 
five  negroes,  followed  by  about  250  with 
pistols,  coming  across  to  cut  us  off,  and 
crying  out,  “  There  are  the  God  damned 
Raymondites — kill  them.”  Some  one  then 
said  that  the  whites  had  exhausted  their 
pistols.  I  told  them  to  move  to  the  right, 
and  try  to  cross  the  railroad  ;  that  my 
sop  and  myself  had  reserved  our  fire, 
and  would  try  to  hold  them  in  check  until 
they  could  escape.  The  negroes  seemed 
to  be  especially  after  Martin  Sivley  and 
myself — crying,  “Kill  them.”  We  turned 
and  faced  them,  and  told  them  to  halt; 
that  we  were  armed  and  would  defend 
ourselves  ;  that  we  wanted  no  bloodshed  ; 
they  had  begun  the  fuss  themselves,  but 
would  not  be  murdered.  They  continued 
to  pursue  us,  firing.  When  I  told  them 
they  had  begun  the  difficulty  themselves, 
young  Chas.  Caldwell  said,  “Yes,  and 
God  damn  you,  we  will  end  it.”  We 
fell  back  about  100  yards,  trying  to  reach 
the  railroad  crossing.  When  we  got 
near  the  dirt  road,  I  accidentally  stepped 
into  a  hole  and  fell.  Immediately  I  was 


8 


The  Clinton  Riot . 


covered  by  about  six  negroes,  who  disarm¬ 
ed  me.  I  rose  with  them  and  tore  loose 
from  them.  Just  at  that  time  Martin 
Sivley  jumped  the  fence,  about  six  or 
eight  negroes  being  on  him — three  of 
whom  were  Sam.  Caldwell, Chas.  Caldwell, 
Jr.,  and  Walter  Wilborne.  As  soon  as 
I  got  loose  I  and  my  son  ran — I  then 
being  disarmed.  The  negroes  followed, 
firing  on  us,  and  crying,  “Kill  the 
damned  scoundrels ;  catch  them  ;  murder 
them,  and  quarter  them.”  Just  as  we 
reached  the  railroad  crossing  we  were 
cut  off  by  another  party,  headed  by  a 
negro  whose  name  I  afterwards  learned 
was  Wade  Walker  ;  they  seized  us  ;  threw 
me  down  on  the  railroad  ;  stamped  me  ; 
kicked  me,  crying,  “Kill  the  damned 
scroundrel ;  beat  his  brains  out after 
they  had  stamped  me  and  kicked  me,  one 
called  for  a  club  and  said,  “Let  me  get  his 
brains;”  they  then  struck  me  several  times 
with  a  club,  and  picked  me  up  and  threw 
me  in  a  hole,  remarking,  “Now  we  have 
done  for  you, damn  you  my  son  said,  “Do 
not  kill  my  father they  said  “Yes  we 
will  kill  him,  and  you  too ;  but  we  will 
take  you  up  on  the  bill  in  the  woods  and 
cut  you  up.”  Their  attention  was  then  at- 
trrcted  to  another  white  man  who  came  on 
in  a  buggy,  and  I  managed  to  crawl 
out  of  the  hole  and  conceal  myself  from 
them,  where  I  remained  for  an  hour,  and 
finally  dragged  myself  to  a  house.  Now 
going  back  to  the  beginning  of  Fisher’s 
speech,  I  want  to  say  that  as  soon  as  Fisher 
begun  to  speak  the  crowd  of  boys  from 
Raymond  were  surroundered  by  a  crowd 
of  negroes,  headed  by  Eugene  Wilborne, 
Sam.  Caldwell  and  Chas.  Caldwell,  Jr.  ; 
when  I  heard  Eugene  Wilborne  say  to 
another  negro,  “  How  far  do  you  reckon 
the  ravens  will  fly  to-day;”  the  negro 
said,  “They  will  not  fly  far;  we  will 
clip  their  wings  when  they  rise.”  All 
told,  I  do  not  think  there  were  over  sixty 
whites  on  the  ground  that  day — including 
men  and  boys — of  whom  I  am  sure  not 
over  twenty  were  armed  ;  I  think  there 
were  between  1,500  to  2,000  negro  men 
on  the  ground,  besides  women  and 
children  ;  I  have  long  been  accustomed 
to  see  crowds  of  men,  and  am  certain  I 
am  not  mistaken  in  my  estimate  ; 
lying  in  my  bed  make  this  statement, 


under  treatment  of  two  physicians  ;  I 
have  been  very  near  death’s  door,  and 
solemnly  swear  that  every  word  I  have 
uttered  is  the  truth.  The  meeting 
was  a  republican  meeting,  and  the 
invitation  for  a  joint  discussion  came 
from  them  ;  I  also  swear  that  I  went  to 
that  ground  with  no  expectation  of  a  diffi¬ 
culty  ;  a  difficulty  was  that  day  expected 
at  Unica,  and  many  white  men  had  gone 
there, to  prevent  it, where  it  was  expected  ; 
that  a  large  number  of  armed  negroes 
from  Hinds,  Copiah  and  Claiborne  coun¬ 
ties  were  expected  to  be  there  ;  I  carried 
my  pistol— it  being  my  habit  in  going  out 
to  carry  a  pistol ;  I  had  no  other  weapon, 
nor  did  I  see  any  white  man  on  the 
ground  with  any  other  weapon  than  a 
pistol ;  I  was  told  that  after  the  fight, 
some  citizens  from  Clinton  and  others, 
come  to  the  grounds  with  guns,  but  I 
was  then  in  such  a  fix  that  I  could  see 
nothing — my  eyes  being  clotted  with 
blood . 

R.  S.  White. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me, 
this  10th  day  of  September,  1875.  Sworn 
to  by  Capt.  B.  S.  White  and  his  signature 
appended  by  S.  M.  Shelton  at  the  request 
of  the  said  White,  and  in  my  presence, 
White  being  too  feeble  to  sign  for  himself. 

[seal]  Silas  J.  Carey,  J;  P. 


The  sworn  statement  of  A.  H.  Sivley  : 

I  reside  in  Raymond,  Miss.,  Martin 
Sively  was  my  cousin  ;  1,  with  P.  TV. 
Shearer,  his  brother-in-law,  and  Lemon, 
brought  his  body  off  the  field  on  the 
afternoon  of  Sept.  4th,  1875,  after  the 
difficulty  at  Clinton  that  day.  We  found 
his  body  in  a  cotton  field,  some  quarter 
of  a  mile  east  of  the  scene  of  the  diffi¬ 
culty,  lying  on  his  back,  with  all  the  top 
of  his  head  mashed  in;  with  several 
wounds  from  pistol  shots  about  the  body; 
his  abdomen  ripped  open  with  a  knife, 
and  his  intestines  protruding  ;  there  were 
also  several  other  bruises  made  by  blow's 
from  clubs  or  some  heavy  instrument 
about  the  body  and  face  ;  a  considerable 
piece  of  flesh  was  torn  from  his  finger 
where  his  ring  had  been  pulled  off ;  his 
shoes  were  gone  and  his  clothing  torn  all 
to  pieces ;  he  being  nearly  stripped 


9 


The  Clinton  Riot* 


naked.  I  also  assisted  in  the  recovery  : 
of  the  body  of  F.  T.  T.  Thompson, 
also  killed  on  the  4th  day  of  September; 
we  found  his  body  about  a  mile  and  a  j 
half  from  the  scene  of  the  difficulty  in  | 
a  westerly  direction  ;  the  body  was  lying 
on  the  back  with  a  pistol  shot  in  the 
thigh,  and  another  just  over  the  left  eye, 
and  the  skull  mashed  in  over  the  left 
eye,  apparently  with  some  heavy  edged 
instrument ;  skull  seemed  to  have  been 
mashed  and  then  shot — the  flesh  around 
the  wound  being  powder-burnt ;  and 
gash  in  the  neck,  apparently  made  with 
a  knife.  I  have  lieen  told  by  others 
that  his  watch  and  the  contents  of  his 
pockets  were  taken  from  him. 

A.  H.  Sivley. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me,  on 
this  the  10th  day  of  Sept.,  1875. 

[l.s.]  Silas  J.  Caeey,  J.P. 


Sworn  statement  of  Hubbard  Strange  : 

I  am  a  citizen  of  Hinds  couutv ;  a 
colored  man,  and  a  Republican ;  I  am 
about  40  years  old  ;  I  came  in  procession 
with  the  Raymond  colored  Republican 
club  to  the  barbecue  at  Clinton,  on  last 
Saturday,  4th  Sept.;  was  near  the  speak¬ 
er’s  stand  ;  heard  Judge  Johnston’s 
speech  as  best  I  could  for  the  confusion 
and  dissatisfied  talking  at  hearing  him  ; 
Capt.  Fisher  took  the  stand  after  Judge 
J.  had  finished,  and  I  heard  some  one 
say,  “now,  damn  you,  don’t  tell  any  lies.” 
This  man  was  Mr.  John  Neal.  Some 
negro  replied  to  this  remark  of  Neal’s  in 
a  quarrelsome  tone,  and  some  white  man 
came  up  to  Mr.  Neal  and  started  off  with 
Mr.  Neal,  and  the  negro  man,  who  was 
quarrelling  at  Mr.  Neal  followed  them;  I 
started  after  them  and  they  wTent  down  in 
the  direction  of  where  the  fight  occurred; 
as  T  followed  on,  I  met  Martin  Sivley 
and  young  Waddell,  and  the  latter  said 
to  me,  Hubbard,  you  are  not  after  a 
fuss  with  us  ;  and  Mr.  Martin  S.  an¬ 
swered  and  said  “no,  Hubbard  is  with  us, 
and  wants  to  keep  at  peace  like  me.”  This 
negro  man  commenced  hollowing  in  the 
rear  of'  us,  “reinforce,  police,  reinforce; 

I  was  calling  out  for  peace,  and  so  was 
Martin  Sivley ;  I  turned  to  him  and 
asked  him  “  what  in  the  devil  are  you 


hollering  reinforce  police,  for ;  if  they 
commence  a  fight,  you  will  be  the  first  to 
run,”  and  he  turned  back  and  went  off 
laughing.  I  continued  to  follow  Mr. 
Sivley,  and  this  same  negro  commenced 
again  to  hollow  “reinforce,  police,”  and 
then  I  heard  the  drum  commence  to  beat 
rapidly,  and  the  confusion  increased,  and 
the  crowd  gathered  densely,  moving  in 
the  direction  Mr.  Neal  had  gone,  and  the 
vTay  Mr.  Sivley  was  going.  I  followed 
on,  trying  to  get  to  Martin  Sivley  and 
others  to  try  to  take  care  of  them,  and 
being  on  the  rise  of  the  hill  I  could  see- 
over  the  crow'd  somewhat,  and  X  saw  Mr. 
Frank  Thompson,  Mr.  Jno.  Neal,  Mar¬ 
tin  Sivley,  Jesse  Wharton,  and  others  of 
|  the  white  men  together  in  a  crowd,  and 
densely  surrounded  by  a  large  crowd  of 
negroes,  in  great  confusion  ;  at  this  time 
I  saw  Mr.  Frank  Thompson  draw  his 
pistol  and  cock  it,  and  holding  it  with 
the  muzzle  towards  the  ground  it  went 
off.  Then  the  shooting  commenced  gen¬ 
erally,  and  I  turned  to  run  and  went 
about  five  or  ten  steps  and  stopped,  and 
turned  and  looked  on  until  the  crowd  of 
negroes  rushed  back  and  give  way,  and 
I  saw  Mr.  Thompson  run  out  of  the 
crowd  and  run  and  get  on  a  roan  horse. 

I  saw  Charley  Caldwell,  Sr.,  for  the  first 
time  after  the  fuss  commenced  run  to¬ 
wards  Mr.  Thompson,  (buthe,  Caldwell 
had  no  arms),  and  call  to  him  with  a  mo¬ 
tion  of  his  hand,  and  saying,  “here,  Mr., 
you  man  on  that  horse,  stop  there.”  Rut 
Thompson  paid  no  attention  to  Caldwell 
and  rode  off.  My  attention  was  then 
called  to  Jesse  Wharton  ;  I  saw  a  colored 
man  pick  up  a  large  limb  and  strike 
Jesse  over  the  head,  knocking  him  down, 
and  X  run  up  and  told  him  X  had  raised 
that  young  man  and  he  should  not  hurt 
him.  The  limb  broke  in  two  and  he 
turned  off  from  Jesse.  Mr.  John  Neal, 
sitting  on  a  wagon  tongue  close  by  and 
wounded,  said  to  me,  “uncle,  save  my 
life,  too;”  I  answered,  I  will,  come  to 
me!  X  then  took  them  both  under  my 
care.  This  same  negro  who  struck  Jesse 
Wharton  said  tome,  “if  you  protect  their 
lives  X  will  kill  you.”  I  then  called  to  my 
son  Levi,  and  told  him  that  this  negro 
wanted  to  kill  these  white  men  and  for 


10 


The  Clinton  Riot . 


him  to  come  to  my  help.  My  son  came 
and  we  carried  them  and  put  them  in  the 
buggy,  and  I  put  my  son  in  to  drive,  and 
seeing  three  negroes  following,  calling 
out  “kill  the  man  with  the  black  hair,” 
I  walked  along  behind  the  buggy  to  pro¬ 
tect  Jesse  and  Mr.  Neal.  After  we  got 
near  the  big  road,  some  two  hundred 
yards  from  the  fighting  ground,  I  got  in 
and  drove  the  buggy  on  to  Mr.  Neal’s 
house.  When  I  got  back  to  the  battle 
ground  the  fight  was  all  over. 

I  think  that  the  majority  of  the  colored 
people  desired  peace,  and  that  there 
would  have  been  no  fuss  or  fight  if  it  had 
not  been  for  a  few  bad  disposed  negroes 
who  I  blame  for  the  whole  difficulty. 

his 

Hubbard  X  Strange. 
mark 

Sworn  to  subscribed  before  me  this 
10th  day  of  Sept.,  1875. 

Tl.s]  Silas  J.  Carey,  J.P. 


Statement  of  Cl.  M.  Lewis,  (white)  : 

I  am  Mayor  of  the  town  of  Clinton. 
On  Saturday,  September  4th,  there  was 
a  Republican  Barbecue  and  Mass  meet¬ 
ing  at  this  place ;  the  place  where  the 
barbecue  was  had,  and  where  the  meet¬ 
ing  was  held  is  about  three-quarters  of  a 
mi  lei  from  the  town.  For  a  few  days 
previous,  it  was  generally  known  that 
there  would  be  a  joint  discussion.  On 
Saturday  morning  about  10  o’clock  the 
negro  clubs  from  the  surrounding  country 
commenced  coming  into  town  ;  a  negro 
club  came  from  Bolton’s  Depot,  number¬ 
ing  about  397 — I  counted  them  as  accu¬ 
rately  as  I  could.  Another  club  from 
Edwards,  which  was  larger  than  the  Bol¬ 
ton’s  club,  came  into  town  about  12 
o’clock ;  a  large  sized  negro  was  in  com¬ 
mand  of  the  Edward’s  club  ;  I  have  been 
informed  that  his  name  is  Scott,  and  that 
he  is  a  justice  of  the  peace ;  as  he  marched 
his  club  into  town  he  halted  it  near  the 
hotel,  and  rode  forward  alone  up  the 
street;  he  was  armed  with  a  cavalry 
sabre  which  he  carried  in  his  hand  drawn; 
other  clubs  came  into  town ;  and  many 
negroes  gathered  from  the  country ;  I 
saw  in  town  several  other  negroes  carrv- 


ing  drawn  swords ;  supposed  them  to  be 
officers  of  clubs ;  the  Boltons  and  Ed- 
wards  negroes  came  into  town  mounted 
and  ip  procession,  formed  in  column  of 
twos.  In  my  judgment  there  were  about 
1000  or  1200  negroes  in  town  ;  after  the 
mounted  clubs  came  in,  they  passed 
through  town,  and  shortly  afterward  re¬ 
turned  through  town  going  in  the  direc¬ 
tion  of  the  place  for  the  barbecue  and 
meeting  ;  before  the  negroes  left  Clinton 
for  the  place  of  the  meeting,  there  were 
many  crowds  of  them  congregated  about 
the  streets,  and  many  of  them  in  their 
manner  were  boisterous,  loud,  and  dis¬ 
orderly^  ;  heard  several  negroes  say,  the 
Democratic  party  was  “gone  up  that 
day,”  or  words  to  that  effect ;  there  were 
about  fifty  white  men  in  town  ;  they  had 
nothing  to  say  to  the  negroes ;  they 
avoided  coming  in  contact  with  the  ne¬ 
groes  ;  the  white  men  were  quiet  and 
orderly  in  their  conduct  and  bearing. 
About  half-past  twelve  the  crowd  of  ne¬ 
groes  had  assembled  at  the  barbecue 
grounds.  The  negro  men  numbered  about 
1000  or  1200  ;  there  were  not  exceeding 
forty  or  fifty  white  men  on  the  grounds  ; 
I  am  sure  at  least  ten  of  that  number  were 
not  armed  ;  I  cannot  tell  how  many  were 
armed  ;  from  all  I  have  heard,  my  opin¬ 
ion  is  that  there  were  about  twenty  white 
men  on  the  grounds  armed  ;  I  went  out 
to  the  grounds  about  half-past  one;  J udge 
Johnston,  (Democrat),  was  speaking  at 
that  time  ;  I  heard  nothing  from  J  udge 
Johnston  calculated  in  the  least  to  pro¬ 
duce  any  disorder,  or  lead  to  a  breach  of 
the  peace;  while  Judge  Johnston  was 
speaking  there  was  a  good  deal  of  laugh¬ 
ing  and  talking  among  the  negroes,  ap¬ 
parently  intended  to  keep  persons  from 
hearing  his  speech  ;  I  heard  one  negro  say 
in  the  crowd,  in  a  tone  of  voice  loud 
enough  to  be  heard  several  yards,  (but 
not  to  be  heard  as  far  as  the  stand), 
“  damn  it  what  do  we  want  to  hear  a 
Democratic  speech  for ;”  and  another  say 
in  about  the  same  tone  of  voice,  that  the 
speaker  ought  to  be  “  put  out,”  and  not 
allowed  to  speak  ;  mauy  of  them  were 
angry  because  he  was  allowed  to  speak 
at  the  meeting.  There  was  no  disturb¬ 
ance,  or  fight  until  IT.  T.  Fisher,  Re- 


The  Clinton  Riot . 


n 


publican  speaker,  had  spoken  a  little  j 
while,  perhaps  ten  or  fifteen  minutes  be-  i 
fore  the  fighting  commenced.  At  the  time  j 
the  firing  commenced,  I,  (with  Mr.  J.  j 
H.  Dupree),  was  lying  under  a  tree  j 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  east  i 
of  the  spot  where  the  firing  began,  and  j 
one  hundred  and  fifty  or  two  hundred 
yards  from  the  speaker’s  stand  ;  ten  or 
fifteen  minutes  before  the  firing,  a  negro 
approached  us,  and  asked  in  a  peremp¬ 
tory  way,  “who  is  speaking  ?”  I  replied, 
Judge  Johnston  ;  the  negro  said,  “hell,' 
I  thought  this  was  a  Republican  meeting  I 
and  not  a  damn  Democrat's  meeting.”  A 
few  moments  before  the  firing  began,  a  j 
negro  woman  came  near  me,  saying  in  a  i 
loud  tone,  “a  fight,  a  fight.”  The  negro  ! 
men  commenced  moving  rapidly  towards  ; 
the  branch,  where  a  few  white  men, 
(three  or  four),  were  congregated,  about 
one  hundred  or  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  yards  from  the  speaker’s  stand  ;  sev¬ 
eral  of  the  negroes  said:  “go  for  them, 
boys  and  I  heard  this  expression  used  > 
by  a  negro:  “  this  is  the  thing  we  have  j 
wanted,  boys,  kill  all  the  white  men” — and  ! 
one  negro  told  another  negro  to  go  to-  j 
wardsthe  stand  and  have  the  drums  beat¬ 
en,  and  for  them  to  rally  at  the  drums  ; 
the  drums  were  beaten.  All  this  occurred 
before  a  shot  wasfired.  As  the  crowd  of 
negroes  rallied  by  the  drums,  they  com¬ 
menced  moving  or  surging  towards  the 
place  where  the  excitement  commenced, 
(that  is  the  point  about  the  branch  where 
the  few  white  men  had  gathered),  a  pis¬ 
tol  shot  was  fired  ;  this  was  followed  in 
quick  succession  by  two  or  three  other 
shots,  and  then  a  general  firing  com¬ 
menced  ;  I  walked  down  towards  this 
point;  going  around  the  crowd  of  negroes, 
and  had  just  started  to  walk  in  that  direc¬ 
tion  when  the  firing  commenced  ;  where 
the  firing  commenced  I  could  see  but  few 
white,  probably  not  over  three,  and  they 
seemed  to  be  surrounded  by  negroes; 
there  was  probably  more  white  men,  but 
they  were  scattered  and  I  did  not  see 
them  ;  the  crowd  of  negroes  on  the  very 
spot  where  the  fighting  began,  at  the 
time  the  firing  commenced,  was  at  least 
three  hundred  ;  I  saw  a  great  many 
negroes  with  pistols ;  I  am  of  the  opinion 
at  least  one  hundred  ;  many  negroes  who 


were  not  armed,  broke  off  large  limbs  or 
branches  from  the  trees  for  clubs,  saying 
of  the  white  people,  “God  damn  ’em  we 
will  mash  them  in  the  earth.”  I  heard 
threats  on  all  sides  from  the  negroes 
against  the  whites.  I  started  to  leave 
the  ground,  but  stumbled  and  fell  to  the 
ground,  and  as  I  rose  from  the  ground,  I 
saw  a  negro  get  a  pistol  from  a  pair  of 
saddle-bags  on  his  horse  and  fire  at  me; 

I  was  shot  at  repeatedly  as  I  left  the 
place  ;  I  went  to  Clinton  without  being 
hurt.  When  the  fight  commenced,  the 
white  men  were  not  massed  in  one  body, 
but  were  scattered  about  the  grounds  ; 
the  three  or  four  white  men  who  were  off 
at  the  branch,  made  the  largest  group  I 
saw.  I  do  not  know  of  my  own  knowl¬ 
edge  the  cause  of  the  difficulty,  or  who 
fired  the  first  shot.  My  opinion  is  that 
the  white  people  did  not  desire  any  riot 
or  trouble  and  did  not  anticipate  it;  and 
I  think  this  because  of  the  small  num¬ 
ber  of  whites  in  Clinton  and  on  the 
grounds;  and  because  so  few  of  those 
present  were  armed ;  and  because  of  the 
vast  number  of  negroes  that  were  pres¬ 
ent.  The  manner  and  conduct  of  many 
of  the  negroes  during  the  day  was  over¬ 
bearing  and  aggressive.  I  did  not  fire  a 
shot  during  the  difficulty.  A  great  many 
negroes,  perhaps  all  of  Edwards’  and 
Bolton  negroes,  after  the  firing,  moved 
off  on  the  roads  leading  to  the  West.  I 
met  a  squad  of  negroes  between  the  tan- 
yard  and  Clinton,  and  one  negro  was 
urging  them  to  go  on  and  kill  all  the 
white  men.  I  am  Mayor  of  Clinton. 
When  I  reached  Clinton  it  was  reported  to 
me  that  the  negroes  would  mass  them¬ 
selves  and  come  into  town  to  burn  the 
town,  and  kill  all  the  white  people  in  tne 
town.  I  immediately  telegraphed  to 
Vicksburg  and  Jackson  for  assistance; 
for  aid  to  protect  the  town.  A  body  of 
citizens  came  from  Vicksburg,  about  125, 
and  about  60  came  from  Jackson  to  pro¬ 
tect  the  lives  and  property  of  the  cidzens 
of  Clinton,  from  the  threatened  violence 
of  the  negro  mob.  No  attack  on  the 
town  however,  was  made  during  the 
night.  Several  colored  men  were  killed 
in  Clinton  during  the  night.  This  was 
not  authorized  by  me,  or  done  by  my  ap¬ 
proval  or  authority.  This  was  done  by 


12 


The  Clinton  Riot . 


unauthorized  persons,  who  supposed  that 
the  negroes  killed  were  engaged  in  the 
killing  of  white  men  on  Saturday  even¬ 
ing.  Seyeral  other  negroes — exact  num¬ 
ber  not  known  by  me,  were  killed  in  the 
vicinity  of  Clinton  early  Sunday  morn¬ 
ing,  by  persons  not  acting  under  my  or¬ 
ders.  Early  Sunday  morning  the  men 
from  Jackson  returned  to  their  home,  as 
did  the  Vicksburg  men,  with  the  excep¬ 
tion  of  about  twenty  whom  I  requested 
W.  H.  Andrews  of  Vicksburg,  to  leave 
here  for  the  protection  of  the  town  ;  not 
being  fully  satisfied  that  the  negroes, 
would  not  return.  By  Sunday  evening' 
everything  was  quiet  and  peaceable  and 
the  excitement  caused  by  the  occurrences 
of  Saturday  had  subsided.  Sunday  night 
a  Deputy  Sheriff  from  Jackson,  with  a 
large  posse  came  to  Clinton.  The  Dept. 
Sheriff,  Col.  W.  H.  Taylor,  expressed 
himself  as  satisfied  that  quiet  was  re¬ 
restored,  and  very  soon  returned  to  Jack- 
son.  Since  that  time  there  has  not  been 
the  least  disturbance  or  breach  of  the 
laws  in  Clinton  or  its  immediate  vicinity. 
On  Monday  morning  business  was  re¬ 
sumed;  and  Isent  out  messengers  through¬ 
out  the  neighborhood  to  inform  all  the 
citizens  in  the  vicinity  of  Clinton  that 
quiet  was  fully  restored,  and  that  there 
was  no  cause  for  alarm.  Everything  to- 
day  is  perfectly  peaceable  and  quiet  in 
Clinton  and  vicinity.  And  to-day.  on 
learning  that  the  Sheriff  of  tiie  county, 
and  probably  Gov.  Ames  were  under  the 
impression  that  some  lawlessness  pre¬ 
vailed,  I  sent  a  dispatch  to  Jackson  to 
Sheriff  Harney,  offering  him  100  men  to 
act  under  his  orders  in  the  interest  of 
peace  and  order  in  the  county.  I  do  not 
think  there  is  any  disturbances  in  the 
countv.  But  I  was  willing,  with  the  hun- 
dred  men  tendered,  to  do  everything  pos¬ 
sible  to  restore  a  feeling  of  confidence  to 
the  mind  of  every  citizen  in  the  county. 

G.  M.  Lewis. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me 
this  10th  day  of  Sept.,  1875. 

[l.s.]  Silas  J.  Carey,  J.F. 


Statement  of  T.  A.  Wells,  (white)  — 
I  live  in  Clinton  ;  on  Saturday,  Sept. 
4th,  a  Republican  barbecue  was  held  at 


this  place,  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile 
from  Clinton  ;  the  Republicans  agreed  to 
divide  time  with  Judge  Johnston,  a 
Democrat ;  1  went  out  to  the  grounds  in 
the  morning;  Judge  Johnston  com¬ 
menced  speaking  about  1  o’clock ;  he 
said  nothing  in  his  speech  calculated  to 
disturb  the  peace  ;  H.  T.  Fisher,  a  white 
Republican,  then  commenced  speaking, 
and  had  spoken  about  five  minutes  when 
the  fighting  commenced ;  there  were 
from  900  to  1200  colored  men  on  the 
ground,  according  to  my  best  judg¬ 
ment;  I  noticed  a  great  many  pistols 
among  the  negroes,  that  day ;  I  saw  an 
unusual  number  of  negroes  with  pistols, 
and  I  would  judge  that  several  hundred 
of  them  were  armed  ;  I  think  there  were 
about  fifty  white  men  on  the  grounds  ;  I 
am  personally  acquainted  with  pretty 
near  all  of  the  white  men  who  were 
present  on  the  grounds  that  day  ;  from 
my  observation,  I  should  say  that  about 
25  white  men  were  armed  with  pistols ; 
not  a  white  man  on  the  ground  had  a 
gun,  so  far  as  I  know,  or  have  been  in¬ 
formed  ;  I  will  state  as  follows  in  regard 
to  the  commencement  of  the  fight : 
About  the  time  Fisher  commenced 
speaking,  and  this  was  fifteen  or  twenty 
minutes  before  the  fight,  three  or  four 
white  gentlemen  left  the  stand  where  the 
speaking  was  going  on,  and  walked  off 
about  one  hundred  yards  away  from 
the  entire  crowd,  to  their  wagon  which 
was  by  a  little  branch,  or  rivulet  in  a  low, 
flat  place,  near  a  group  of  willow  trees  ;  I 
think  that  Vasser  Shearer,  Vink  Wad- 
del,  Mr.  Frank  Thompson,  and  perhaps 
young  Mr.  Wharton  were  in  this  party  ; 
none  of  them  were  drunk  ;  they  were  be¬ 
having  in  a  quiet,  orderly  and  peaceable 
manner,  and  had  been  so  conducting 
themselves  all  day;  I  passed  by  this 
party  five  or  ten  minutes  before  the  fight¬ 
ing  commenced  ;  these  gentlemen  had  a 
bottle  of  liquor  out;  I  did  not  see  them 
take  a  drink,  but  suppose  their  object  in 
going  off  the  grounds  was  to  take  a  social 
drink;  I  then  walked  up  to  the  stand 
and  stood  near  the  stand ;  everything 
was  then  quiet ;  presently  I  saw  many 
negroes,  quite  a  crowd,  moving  rapidly 
toward  the  small  party  of  gentlemen  ai- 


The  Clinton  Riot 


13 


ready  spoken  of,  who  were  at  the  branch; 
not  a  shot  had  then  been  fired  ;  I  next 
heard  a  negro  say  “there  is  a  fight Mr. 
John  Neal,  a  white  man  standing  near 
me,  said  to  the  crowd  of  negroes  who 
were  still  moving  toward  the  branch,  “it 
is  not  a  fight,  it  is  only  a  man  taking  a 
drink;”  the  negroes  paused  a  moment; 
then  the  negroes  said  again  “it  is  a  fight,” 
and  moved  on  ;  Chas.  Caldwell,  Sr.,  said 
“come  back”  to  the  negroes,  and  Fisher 
said  the  same  thing,  but  this  had  no  ef¬ 
fect  on  them  ;  I  heard  a  negro  man  down 
at  the  spot  spoken  of  where  the  small 
party  of  white  men  were  standing,  call 
to  the  negroes  to  “come  on;”  I  saw  a 
negro  between  me  and  the  party  at  the 
branch,  trying  to  form  the  negroes  to¬ 
gether,  and  heard  him  order  them  to 
“fall  into  ranks;”  I  do  not  know  his 
name  ;  I  saw  another  negro  on  a  horse, 
not  far  from  the  stand,  and,  perhaps,  one 
hundred  yards  from  the  branch,  call  to 
the  negroes,  “all  you  who  have  no  pistols 
get  clubs,”  or  words  to  that  effect ;  the 
drums  carried  to  the  grounds  by  the  ne¬ 
groes  were  then  beat;  I  was  about  thirty 
yards  from  the  drums ;  during  this  time 
there  seemed  to  be  a  scuffle  going  on  at 
the  branch  where  the  group  of  white 
gentlemen  was,  already  spoken  of  by 
me,  and  there  was  a  good  deal  of  excite¬ 
ment  ;  the  negroes  rushed  down  towards  I 
this  party  at  the  branch  ;  I  then  heard  a 
pistol  shot  at  the  branch,  and  the  firing 
instantly  became  general ;  after  the  firing 
commenced,  many  of  the  negroes  ran 
from  the  grounds,  and  others  ran  towards 
the  place  where  the  fighting  was  going 
on  ;  I  left  the  grounds  very  quickly  af¬ 
ter  the  firing  commenced,  and  before  it 
was  over  ;  I  had  no  pistol,  or  weapon  of 
any  kind,  and  did  not  participate  in  the 
fight;  I  then  came  towards  Clinton,  and 
stopped  at  a  tan-yard,  near  the  road 
leading  from  Clinton  to  the  place  where 
the  fighting  took  place,  and  about  two  or 
three  hundred  yards  from  the  town  ;  I 
saw  a  squad  of  negroes,  three  or  four, 
armed  with  guns,  moving  from  Clinton 
towards  the  firing — that  is.  the  place 
where  the  fighting  was  going  on  ;  while 
I  stood  in  the  tan-yard,  I  saw  Mr.  Calvin 
Wells,  a  white  man,  coming  up  the  road 
towards  Clinton,  in  a  buggy ;  I  saw  ten 


or  fifteen  negroes  standing  in  the  flat  be¬ 
tween  the  tan-yard  and  the  road,  and  as 
Wells  passed,  they  fired  ten  or  fifteen 
shots  at  him,  saying  at  the  time,  “there 
goes  a  white  man,  shoot  him !”  I  think 
Wells  had  lost  control  of  his  horse  at  the 
time  he  was  passing,  and  I  think  the 
horse  was  running  away ;  I  have  since 
been  told,  and  I  think  the  information 
correct,  that  Wells  had  previously  been 
shot  in  the  hand,  that  is,  before  this 
squad  of  negroes  fired  at  him  ;  these  shots 
did  not  take  effect,  for  Wells  passed  on  in 
his  buggy  to  Clinton;  the  firing  was  soon 
over;  I  then  came  up  to  Clinton  to  the 
railroad  depot. 

Thgs.  A.  Wells. 

State  of  Mississippi,  ) 

Hinds  County,  j 

Personally  appeared  before  me,  T.  A. 
Wells,  who  being  first  duly  sworn,  says 
that  the  foregoing  statement  is  true  and 
correct,  according  to  the  best  of  his 
knowledge  and  belief. 

This  Sept.  9th,  1875. 

Silas  J.  Carey,  J.  P., 

Justice  of  Peace  in  and  for  Hinds  Co. 


Sworn  statement  of  Henry  Jackson, 
(col.)— -lam  a  citizen  of  the  neighborhood 
of  Clinton  ;  about  19  years  old  ;  am  col- 
!  ored  ;  do  not  claim  to  belong  to  any 
political  party,  but  am  a  son  of  Simon 
Jackson,  former  President  of  the  colored 
Republican  club  of  Clinton  ;  on  the  4th 
of  September,  inst. ,  on  Saturday, 

1  went  to  the  barbecue  ground  about 
10  o’clock  ;  I  was  up  near  the  old  build¬ 
ing  on  the  grounds,  about  100  yards 
from  the  speaker’s  stand,  at  Mrs. 
Caldwell’s  ice  cream  stand ;  about 

2  o’clock  p.  M.,  as  near  as  I  can  guess  at 
the  time,  and  I  heard  some  one  say  there 
is  a  fuss  on  the  grounds;  I  ran  down 
towards  where  the  crowd  seemed  gather¬ 
ing,  and  I  saw  a  colored  man  have  a  white 
man  by  the  throat;  a  big  crowd  had 
gathered  around  this  white  man,  not  less 
than  fifty  colored  men  ;  I  could  see,  be¬ 
ing  on  the  hill,  distinctly  the  crowd,  the 
white  man  and  the  negro  man,  Louis 
Hargrove,  who  had  the  white  man  by 
the  throat ;  I  heard  the  whites  tell  Louis 
two  or  three  times  to  turn  him  loose,  and 


1-1 


The  Clinton  Riot. 


he  held  on  ’till  I  heard  a  shot  and  saw 
Louis  Hargrove  fall ;  I  do  not  know  who 
fired  the  shot ;  cannot  say  that  the  white 
man  who  was  being  choked  fired  ;  the  white 
man  asked  Louis  in  a  kind  tone  of  voice  to 
turn  him  loose  as  he  did  not  want  to  pay 
the  fine  of  $50  for  disturbing  the  peace  ; 
I  saw  some  white  man  firing,  but  don’t 
know  who  he  was  ;  the  first  shot  I  heard 
was  when  I  saw  Louis  Hargrove  fall;  I 
thought  it  was  time  for  me  to  be  getting 
away,  and  I  started  as  fast  as  I  could  for 
heme  ;  I  saw  Mr.  Waddy  Rice  after  he 
was  shot  through  the  hand  ;  there  were 
a  great  many  colored  people  and  very 
few  white  on  the  ground  that  day. 

Henry  G.  Jackson. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  to  before  me 
this  10th  day  of  September,  1875. 

[seal.]  Silas  J.  Carey,  J.  P. 

Statement  under  oath  of  Dr.  H.  T.  T. 
Dupree — I  was  on  the  barbecue  grounds 
by  invitation  to  a  joint  discussion  of  the 
issues  of  the  day  ;  I  heard  Judge  John¬ 
ston’s  speech  through  and  that  of  Capt. 
Fisher  up  to  the  beginning  of  the  dis¬ 
turbance  ;  there  was  much  confusion  in 
the  crowd  around  the  stand,  and  among 
other  defiant  remarks  I  heard  made  was 
one  of  a  negro  who  said  “what  in  the 
hell  is  the  use  of  our  listening  to  Johnston, 
havn’t  the  Avhite  folks  been  telling  us  lies 
ever  since  the  surrender  and  they  con¬ 
tinue  to  do  so,”  and  from  the  defiant 
words  and  actions  I  became  convinced 
that  they,  the  negroes,  were  seeking  a 
pretext  for  a  difficulty ;  Fisher  had  been 
speaking  ten  or  fifteen  minutes  when  1 
heard  some  one,  about  a  hundred  yards 
off,  hallow  very  loudly,  which  I  supposed 
was  some  one  drunk,  but  immediately  a 
large  crowd  of  negroes  rushed  in  that  di¬ 
rection  crying  out  for  the  police,  and  to 
arrest  them,  etc.,  but  quickly  this  cry  was 
turned  into  “kill  them,”  “kill  them;” 
the  crowd  continued  to  gather  around 
the  scene  and  the  further  and  louder  cry 
of  “kill  the  damned  sons  of  bitches,”  and 
many  of  the  negroes  had  their  pistols 
in  their  hands  and  others  drawing  their 
pistols  ;  I  could  not  tell  what  white  men 
they  were  after,  at  that  time  ;  I  kept  my 
stand  and  saw  the  dense  crowd  still  gath¬ 
ering  ;  their  demoniac  cries  beggering  all 


description,  for  blood  and  slaughter,  in¬ 
creasing  until  presently  the  firing  com¬ 
menced,  when  the  crowd  swaying  back¬ 
ward  revealed  to  me  the  fact  that  they 
had  been  surrounding  a  small  squad, 
eight  or  ten,  of  white  men  ;  before  the 
firiug  commenced  the  negroes  beat  their 
drums  furiously  ;  among  the  white  men 
thus  surrounded  I  saw  Capt.  White,  Mar¬ 
tin  Sivley,  Dr.  Bracey,  Frank  Robinson 
and  Willie  Sims,  coming  out ;  they  had 
their  pistols  in  hand,  but  I  think  they 
were  all  empty ;  I  started  for  Clinton, 
some  half  mile  distant,  and  fell  in  with 
Major  Harper  and  his  son,  and  as  we 
moved  on  I  heard  a  cry  behind  us  of 
“shoot  them,  kill  them,  they  are  the 
damn  sons  of  bitches  who  killed  our 
men  ;”  I  recognized  the  same  white  men 
named  above,  being  hotly  pursued  by  a 
large  crowd  of  negroes  ;  among  the  crowd 
of  white  men  I  recognized  Henry  Page, 
a  negro  and  a  Republican,  trying  to 
protect  our  white  men  ;  these  white  men 
were  now  protesting  for  peace  ;  X  imme¬ 
diately  turned  and  exhorted  the  negroes 
to  be  peaceable,  that  the  law  should  be 
resorted  to  ;  that  they  knew  the  men 
and  they  could  be  had  whenever  called 
for  by  the  law,  I  would  go  their  security 
that  they  should  be  forthcoming  ;  the  ne¬ 
groes  answered,  “there  is  no  law  now,  kill 
them,  God  damn  them,  kill  them;”  the  ne¬ 
gro  who  made  this  reply  most  loudly,  was 
a  yellow  negro,  whom  1  have  since  been 
informed  was  one  of  the  Caldwell  family  ; 
by  this  time  these  white  men  were  over¬ 
taken  and  partially  surrounded  by  the 
negroes  and  one  of  the  white  men  (X 
think  Frank  Robinson)  was  knocked  down 
aod  Henry  Page,  the  colored  man  before 
referred  to,  took  him,  Robinson,  off  the 
ground  and  carried  him  away,  being 
pursued  by  a  large  number  of  other  ne¬ 
groes  out  of  this  crowd;  X  took  advan¬ 
tage  of  these  negroes  following  Robinson 
and  moved  on  toward  town  with  the 
other  white  men  following  me.  We  had 
gone  about  one  hundred  yards,  still  being 
menaced  by  negroes  following,  but  not  in 
such  force  until  Robinson’s  pursuers 
again  overtook  us  ;  they  came  up  again 
with  their  cry  of  “kill  them”  and  the 
white  men  begging  for  their  lives;  one 
or  more  of  them  surrendered  their  pistols 


The  Clinton  Riot. 


15 


to  the  neo-roes,  among  them  thus  surren- 
dering  was  Martin  Sivley,  who  handed 
up  his  pistol  and  immediately  another 
negio  struck  him  over  the  head  (I  think 
the  same  yellow  negro  Caldwell,  before 
spoken  of,)  with  a  pistol,  knocking  Sivley 
down  and  breaking  the  pistol ;  Sivley 
got  up  and  ran,  and  I  think  Dr.  Bracey 
with  him,  hotly  pursued  by  many  ne¬ 
groes,  this  same  yellow  negro  in  the 
crowd  ;  Sivley  jumped  the  fence  and 
ran  about  one  hundred  yards  in  a  field, 
and  soon  I  heard  demoniac  yells  and 
many  shots  from  towards  the  direction 
Sively  ran,  and  where  I  think  his  body 
was  found  ;  I  took  advantage  of  the  ab¬ 
sence  of  the  negroes  that  ran  after  Sivley 
and  Bracey,  and  I  moved  on  towards 
town  again  followed  only  by  Capt.  White 
and  Willie  Sims  ;  I  got  near  to  the  rail¬ 
road  crossing,  nearly  a  half  mile  from 
where  the  fighting  first  commenced  ;  we 
were  still  being  pursued  and  menaced 
by  many  negroes  and  at,  or  near,  the  rail¬ 
road  crossing,  a  negro,  who  I  am  informed 
is  called  Wade  Walker,  assaulted  Capt. 
White,  swearing  he  would  kill  him  any¬ 
how  ;  then  I  again  tried  to  parley  with 
them,  the  negroes,  again  telling  them 
the  white  men  could  be  had  when  wanted 
by  the  law  ;  this  big  black  negro  hesi¬ 
tated  for  a  second  and  said  ‘ ‘God  damn  you, 
then  give  me  your  pistol”  Capt.  White 
handed  him  a  little  pistol  ;  he  then  de¬ 
manded  my  pistol,  and  I  gave  it  to  him  ; 
he,  the  negro,  cursed,  and  I  started 
down  the  dirt  road  and  White  down  the 
railroad,  diverging  so  that  1  lost  sight  of 
him  (White),  but  he  was  again  over¬ 
taken  and  beaten  and  left  for  dead,  as  I 
have  since  learned ;  I  moved  forward 
again  and  got  near  the  depot,  and  hear¬ 
ing  shots  again  looked  back  and  saw  a 
white  man  (Calvin  Wells)  coming  in  his 
buggy  and  saw  a  negro  who  had  as 
I  thought,  his  horse  by  the  bridle, 
while  others  from  both  sides  of  the  road 
were  advancing  on  him  (Wells),  firing 
at  him  ;  just  at  this  time  Capt.  Mongomt- 
ery  came  to  Well’s  relief  with  a  double 
barrel  shot-gun,  and  firing  both  barrels 
the  negroes  gave  back  and  the  horse 
bounded  forward  and  was  running  away. 
Wells  not  having  the  lines,  which  were 


down  under  the  horses’  feet  ;  Wells  hal¬ 
looed  to  me  to  stop  his  horse,  which  1  did, 
and  he  told  me  he  was  wounded  and  to 
get  in  and  take  him  home  ;  I  am  satisfied 
that  there  were  not  more  than  seventy- 
five  white  men  and  not  more  than  fifteen 
or  twenty  were  armed  and  1,000  or  1200 
negro  men,  very  many  of  whom  were 
armed,  and  many  women  and  children ; 
this  was  on  the  4th  September,  1875,  in 
Hinds  county. 

H.  T.  T.  Dupree. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me  this 
10th  day  of  September,  1875. 

[seal.]  Silas  J.  Carey,  J.  P. 


The  sworn  statement  of  D.  W.  Rice: 
I  am  and  was  on  the  4th  inst.  a  clerk  in 
the  store  of  T.  G.  Rice,  merchant,  in 
the  town  of  Clinton,  Miss.;  under  the 
instructions  of  my  employer,  I  closed  the 
store  about  10  o’clock  a.  m.  on  the  4th 
inst.,  and  went  to  the  meeting  then  being 
held  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  from 
town,  arriving  there  just  before  the  con¬ 
clusion  of  Judge  Johnston’s  speech;  I 
went  up  to  the  speakers’  stand ;  Judge 
Johnston  concluded  his  speech,  and  Mr. 
Fisher  had  been  speaking  some  five  min¬ 
utes,  when  I  saw  a  negro  running  from  a 
bottom  some  one  hundred  yards  from  the 
|  speakers’  stand,  who  said  there  was  a 
fight  between  a  white  and  colored  man  ; 
a  crowd  of  negroes  immediately  went 
down  ;  the  same  negro  again  returned, 
and  proclaimed  the  same  thing,  saying  in 
addition,  “come  down,  boys,  come  down”; 
immediately  the  whole  crowd  of  negroes 
ran  rapidly  down  to  the  bottom  ;  I  then 
went  down  to  about  twenty-five  yards  of 
the  crowd,  hoping  to  preserve  peace  ;  I 
saw  Simon  Jackson  (colored)  backing 
Wade  Walker  (colored)  out  of  the  crowd, 
begging  him  to  keep  quiet;  Walker  was 
very  violent,  declaring  that  he  would  kill 
the  “  damned  rascal”;  about  that  time  a 
kettle  drum  was  beaten  rapidly  for  a 
minute  or  so  :  then  I  heard  a  shot  fired 
in  the  crowd  ;  which  was  followed  by 
rapid  firing  and  hallooing;  when  the  fir¬ 
ing  began,  I  had  changed  my  position  to 
a  point  about  fifty  yards  from  the  crowd, 
and  heard  cries  in  every  direction,  “kill 
every  damned  white  man  on  the  ground”; 


16  The  Clinton  Riot- 


about  this  time  I  was  shot  myself;  up  to 
the  time  I  was  shot,  I  had  been  doing  all 
in  my  power  to  preserve  the  peace,  and 
had  shown  no  weapons ;  I  then  drew  my 
pistol  to  defend  myself,  there  being  about 
me  a  dozen  negroes  with  pistols  in  their 
hands,  firing,  and  shouting,  “  kill  every 
white  man  on  the  ground”;  the  negroes 
were  infuriated  beyond  my  power  to  de¬ 
scribe  ;  I  felt  that  it  was  death  tc  a  white 
man  to  remain  on  the  ground  ;  1  made 
my  escape  to  town  as  soon  as  I  could,  and 
got  ammunition  and  returned  ;  as  I  pass¬ 
ed  the  railroad  crossing  when  I  escaped  to 
town,  a  negro,  Wade  Walker,  was  stand¬ 
ing  there  with  a  pistol  in  his  hand,  calling 
upon  the  negroes  to  rally  ;  as  I  passed 
him  he  fired  on  me ;  I  am  sure  there  were 
not  over  seventy-five  white  men  on  the 
ground  when  the  fight  occurred,  not  over 
twenty-five  of  whom  were  armed. 

D.  W,  Rice. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me, 
this  9th  of  Sept.,  1875. 

[seal.]  Silas  J.  Carey,  J.P. 


The  sworn  statement  of  TL  C.  Mar¬ 
shall. 

I  live  near  Clinton,  Miss.;  having  been 
informed  that  there  would  be  a  joint  politi¬ 
cal  discussion  at  Clinton  on  the  4th  of  Sep¬ 
tember,  I  attended  the  meeting  ;  1  stood 
in  about  ten  feet  of  the  speakers’  stand 
while  Judge  Johnston  was  speaking  ;  was 
surrounded  by  negroes,  among  whom 
were  many  young  negroes,  who  through¬ 
out  Johnston’s  speech  were  cursing  the 
whites,  and,  in  boisterous  tones,  contra¬ 
dicting  the  speaker,  making  such  a  noise 
that  I  was  unable  to  hear  what  was  said  ; 
they  frequently  rubbed  against  me,  put¬ 
ting  their  arms  on  my  shoulders,  and  by 
every  word  and  act  seeking  to  insult  and 
provoke  me ;  being  die  only  white  man 
in  the  immediate  crowd,  I  kept  quiet  to 
avoid  a  difficulty,  if  possible ;  my  atten¬ 
tion  was  attracted  to  the  difficulty  in  the 
bottom  some  hundred  yards  off,  by  seeing 
the  crowd  rush  down  ;  I  then  tried  to  go 
to  the  place,  to  learn  the  cause ;  after  I 
got  down,  the  drum  beat ;  the  white  boys 
were  then  falling  back,  and  the  negroes 
were  pressing  on  them  ;  I  could,  once  in 
a  while,  see  the  boys’  heads ;  the  crowd 


of  negroes  was  very  dense  around  them ; 
soon  after  the  drum  beat  and  the  firing 
begun  ;  about  the  third  shot  the  crowd 
"of  negroes  scattered  some,  but  rallied 
again  and  pressed  on  the  boys ;  the  ne- 
!  groescame  from  the  speakers’  stand  to  the 
;  bottom,  brandishing  their  pistols,  crying 
I  “  kill  the  damned  rascals”;  I  could  not 
j  tell  how  many  white  boys  there  were,  as 
1  was  soon  cut  off  from  them  entirely 
after  the  firing  begun,  and  never  did 
|  succeed  in  getting  to  them  where  they 
were ;  the  negroes  soon  begun  shooting 
at  me,  and  I  made  my  escape  as  soon  as 
|  I  could  ;  I  suppose  I  saw  from  three 
hundred  to  four  hundred  negroes  armed 
with  pistols,  and  shooting  in  every  direc¬ 
tion  ;  I  think  seventy-five  would  include 
!  all  the  whites  on  the  ground  during  the 
day  ;  I  think  there  were  more  than  1500 
negro  men  on  the  ground,  besides  women 
:  and  children  ;  the  negroes  continued  to 
follow  and  shoot  at  me  until  I  crossed 
j  the  railroad  and  got  nearly  to  the  town. 

H.  C.  Marshall. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me, 

|  on  this  4th  day  of  September,  1875. 
[seal.]  Silas  J.  Carey,  J.P. 


The  sworn  statement  of  Washington 
Slayton  (col’d), 

I  am  a  colored  man,  and  about  twenty- 
seven  years  old  ;  am  a  citizen  of  Hinds 
county,  where  I  have  lived  for  ten  years 
or  more  ;  I  live  near  Raymond  ;  am  a 
Republican,  and  a  member  of  the  Ray¬ 
mond  Republican  Club;  on  the  4th  Sept., 
1875,  I  went  to  Clinton  with  my  Club  to 
attend  a  Republican  meeting,  where,  I 
was  told,  there  was  to  be  a  joint  political 
discussion  ;  the  first  I  saw  or  knew  of  the 
difficulty  which  occurred  that  day  was  in 
this  wise :  while  Judge  Johnston  was 
speaking,  a  colored  man  created  a  dis¬ 
turbance  in  the  crowd  ;  immediately  a 
colored  man  came  up  and  called  for  a 
policeman,  and  told  him  to  go  down  the 
hill,  as  there  were  some  white  boys  mak¬ 
ing  a  fuss;  I  asked  him  what  he  wanted 
with  a  policeman,  telling  him  there  was 
no  one  down  there  going  to  start  a  row  ; 
I  said  to  the  policeman,  “  come  back”  ; 
that  his  business  was  at  the  stand  ;  “  let 
us  do  as  the  white  people  did  at  Ray- 


The  Clinton  Riot 


17 


raond,  and  keep  quiet  and  listen  .to  the 
speech,  and  pay  no  attention  to  that  af¬ 
fair'’  ;  lie  said  he  was  here  to  arrest  any 
man  who  did  not  behave  himself;  he  had 
heard  that  the  boys  had  a  bottle  of  whis¬ 
ky  down  there,  and  he  was  going  to  arrest  j 
them  ;  I  at  once  left  the  stand  myself,  I 
Chas.  Caldwell,  Sr.,  going  at  the  same 
time;  he  got  to  the  white  boys  and  said  j 
to  the  colored  people,  “go  back,  we  will 
‘qualify’  these  young  men  directly”;  I 
got  in  then,  and  said  to  the  colored  peo¬ 
ple,  “  for  God’s  sake,  do  go  back,  and 
start  no  fuss  here”;  there  was  then  a 
large  crowd  of  colored  people  around  us,  J 
led  by  a  big  colored  man  crying  “rein¬ 
force,  police”;  the  colored  people  kept 
coming  down  the  hill  ;  I  got  a  few  to 
stop  ;  before  a  pistol  fired  Caldwell  said, 

“  God  Almighty,  people,  are  you  not 
going  to  hear  me  when  I  speak  to  you?” 
the  same  big  black  man  again  cried, 

“  reinforce  down  here,  men — God  damn 
it,  let  us  kill  the  men — don’t  be  fooling 
with  them  any  longer”;  at  that  time  the 
colored  people  were  between  fifteen  and 
twenty  feet  deep  around  the  whites,  who 
were  falling  back  and  the  colored  people 
pressing  on  them  ;  I  then  broke  ranks, 
got  out  of  there,  and  jumped  my  horse 
and  run  ;  I  was  satisfied  there  would  be 
a  fight,  for  the  negroes  around  us  had 
out  their  pistols,  and  I  saw  a  large  crowd 
of  them  running  down  the  hill  with  pis¬ 
tols  drawn,  and  heard  as  many  as  twenty 
crying,  “kill  them,  kill  them  damned 
white  folks”;  I  am  a  true  Republican, 

but  I  give  it  as  my  deliberate  judgment 
that  if  the  colored  people  had  behaved 
themselves  there  would  have  been  no 
fuss  ;  the  white  people  seemed  to  do  all 
in  their  power  to  avoid  it;  they  had  kept 
quiet  and  respectful  all  day ;  I  do  not 
believe  there  were  over  fifty  or  sixty 
whites  on  the  ground  ;  the  boys  had  no 
pistols  out  when  they  were  surrounded  as 
before  said,  except  that  a  boy  named 
Waddill  picked  up  a  rock  or  something, 
and  Mr.  Martin  Sivley  took  out  his  pistol 
and  said  to  him,  “  if  you  do  not  behave 
yourself,  I  will  knock  you  down  with  my 


pistol”;  Sivley  immediately  put  up  his 
pistol.  his 

Washington  x  Slayton. 
mark. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me, 
this  10th  day  of  Sept.,  1875. 

[seal.]  Silas  J.  Carey,  J.P. 


Statement  of'  Frank  Guiol,  (white)  — 
I  reside  in  Clinton  ;  I  went  out  to  the 
grounds  where  the  barbecue  and  speak¬ 
ing  were  had  on  last  Saturday  ;  reached 
the  stand  while  Judge  Johnston  was 
speaking  ;  I  was  near  Charley  Chilton, 
about  thirty  steps  from  the  speakers’ 
stand;  about  the  time  that  Fisher  (Re¬ 
publican),  commenced  speaking,  Mr. 
Chilton  said  he  would  go  home,  and  he 
then  left  for  home  ;  Chilton’s  residence 
was  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the 
stand  ;  after  Fisher  had  spoken  about 
five  or  ten,  perhaps  fifteen  minutes,  I 
noticed  some  excitement  off  in  the  direc¬ 
tion  of  a  little  branch,  about  100  yards 
distant;  a  white  man  and  a  negro  seemed 
to  be  disputing  ;  the  crowd  of  negroes 
commenced  to  move  in  that  direction  ; 

I  heard  a  negro  say,  “there  is  a  fight,” 
and  the  same  person  said  “go  down  boys,” 
to  the  negroes  ;  then  the  drums  were 
beaten  ;  there  was  one  drum  at  the  stand, 
and  another  in  the  crowd,  thirty  or  forty 
steps  from  the  stand  ;  as  soon  as  the  cry 
of  a  fight  was  raised,  these  drums  were 
beaten ;  the  negroes  all  rallied  in  a 
crowd,  and  rushed  down  towards  the 
spot  where  the  excitement  first  com¬ 
menced,  which  I  have  already  described  ; 
up  to  this  time  not  a  shot  had  been  fired; 
when  the  drums  were  beaten,  and  the 
large  crowd  of  negroes  had  rushed  down 
to  this  spot,  then  a  shot  was  fired,  and 
the  firing  instantly  became  general ;  I  do 
not  know  who  fired  the  first  shot ;  when 
the  drums  were  beaten,  I  heard  several 
negroes  say,  “rally  boys,  rally,”  and 
this  w7as  before  a  shot  was  fired  ;  the  ne¬ 
groes  near  the  drums,  and  where  this 
command  was  given,  were  about  one 
hundred  yards  from  the  place  where  I 
witnessed  the  altercation,  and  1  do  not 
think  it  possible  that  they  could  have 
known  anything  about  the  merits  of  the 
altercation,  and  beyond  the  fact  that  an 


18 


The  Clinton  liioi. 


altercation  or  dispute  was  going  on  be¬ 
tween  a  white  man  and  a  negro  ;  as  soon 
as  the  firing  commenced,  being  unarmed, 
1  started  for  Clinton  ;  when  I  reached  a 
hill-top,  about  150,  or  200  yards  from  the 
spot  where  the  fighting  began,  I  met 
three  or  four  white  men  who  were  also 
unarmed  :  we  proposed  to  keep  together, 
if  possible,  and  make  our  way  to  Clinton; 
m  the  excitement  we  became  separated  ; 
the  next  thing  1  saw  was  a  mulatto  man, 
(I  think  from  Jackson),  stamping  on  the 
ground  and  holding  a  revolver  in  each 
hand ;  other  negroes,  quite  a  crowd, 
were  coming  behind  him  ;  I  seemed  to 
have  attracted  their  attention;  I  said  to 
the  man  with  the  pistols,  “for  God’s  sake 
stop  this  shooting,  and  quiet  this  thing ;” 
he  replied  by  saying,  “stand  back,”  and 
then  fired  at  me ;  I  continued  to  retreat 
as  rapidly  as  possible  ;  at  this  moment, 
young  Martin  Sivley,  who  had  fallen 
near  the  top  of  the  hill,  struggled  to  his 
feet  and  attempted  to  escape;  this  attract¬ 
ed  the  attention  of  the  negroes  in  my  vi¬ 
cinity,  they  turned  on  Sivley  and  com¬ 
menced  firing  on  him  ;  I  did  not  remain 
to  see  him  killed,  but  availed  myself  of 
this  opportunity  to  escape ;  I  have  been 
told  that  Sivley  was  killed  about  150,  or 
200  yards  from  the  spot  where  I  last  saw 
him  alive,  and  fleeing  for  his  life ;  when 
I  reached  the  railroad  crossing,  that  is 
where  the  upper  Vicksburg  dirt  road 
crosses  the  V.  &  M.  R.  R.  about  one- 
fourth  of  a  mile  from  where  the  fighting 
commenced,  I  saw  Wade  Walker,  a 
negro,  beating  a  white  man  who  was  ly¬ 
ing  on  the  ground  in  a  helpless  condition; 
the  white  man,  I  have  since  learned,  was 
Capt.  White  ;  Wade  Walker  was  beating 
him  with  a  stick,  and  held  a  pistol  in 
one  hand  ;  there  was  a  crowd  of  negroes 
around  Walker  at  the  time;  a  son  of 
White,  a  lad  about  seventeen,  apparent¬ 
ly  unarmed,  was  begging  the  negroes  for 
God’s  sake  not  to  kill  his  father,  he  beg¬ 
ged  them  to  kill  him  but  to  spare  his 
father;  the  negroes  shouted,  “kill  him, 
kill  all  the  white  men,”  and  they  knock¬ 
ed  him  down  and  beat  him  ;  I  passed 
this  group,  as  near  as  ten  or  twelve  steps, 
and  saw  this  in  passing;  they  seemed  to 
be  occupied  witli  Capt.  White  and  his 


son,  and  did  not  seem  to  notice  me;  I 
also  saw  a  group  of  negroes  shooting  at  a 
white  man  in  a  buggy,  shouting,  “kill 
him,  stop  him;”  X  have  been  told  that 
Calvin  Wells  was  the  man  in  the  buggy; 
X  reached  Clinton  safelv;  there  were 
about  1200  colored  men  on  the  grounds 
during  the  meeting;  X  saw  about  40,  or 
45  white  men  on  the  ground ;  many 
white  men  in  Clinton  did  not  go  out  to 
the  speaking  ;  indeed  X  believe  that  the 
greater  part  of  the  white  men  of  Clinton, 
did  not  go  out  to  the  speaking  at  all ; 
during  the  day,  in  town  and  on  the 
grounds,  the  white  men  were  sober,  quiet 
and  orderly  in  their  conduct  and  bearing, 
and  I  saw  no  disposition  whatever,  mani¬ 
fested  on  their  part,  to  create  any  dis¬ 
turbance,  or  to  interfere  in  any  way  with 
the  negroes  or  Republicans. 

F.  Guiol. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me 
this  Sept.  9th,  1875. 

[seal.]  Silas  J.  Cakey,  J.I3. 


Sworn  statement  of  Silas  Thomas, 
colored  : 

I  am  a  hired  farm-laborer,  and  have 
lived  for  several  years  with  Thomas  Wells, 
and  worked  on  his  plantation,  eight  miles 
south  of  Edwards  Depot,  Hinds  county, 
Miss.;  have  been  there  and  in  the  neigh¬ 
borhood  all  the  latter  part  of  August  and 
September,  up  to  yesterday, when  I  came 
to  Raymond  ;  on  or  about  Thursday,  the 
19th  of  August,  A.  D.,  1875,  a  colored 
man, who  said  he  was  from  Clinton,  Hinds 
county,  came  to  Haifa's  School-house, 
where  the  Oak  Ridge  Republican  Club 
met,  and  made  a  speech  to  that  Club ;  X 
am  a  member  of  that  Club,  and  was 
present  on  that  day  ;  the  said  school-house 
is  about  two  miles  from  where  X  live  ;  in 
his  speech  he  said  he  had  come  down  to 
tell  them  to  come  to  Clinton, on  the  4th  of 
September ;  that  Caldwell  was  going  to 
make  a  big  speech  there  ;  that  the  white 
folks  had  said  that  Caldwell  should  not 
speak  there,  “  but  we  will  show  them,  he 
shall  speak  there  ;  come  prepared  for 
business  ;”  that  if  we  did  not  hold  up  our 
heads  on  this  side  of  Big  Black,  we 
would  be  just  like  Vicksburg  was;  that 
he  wanted  us  to  come  mounted  and 


The  Clinton  Riot 


19 


‘prepared,  and  Marcus  Kelly,  Presi¬ 
dent  of  the  Club,  arose  and  said,  “  Gen¬ 
tlemen,  you  all  know  what  that  means, 
don’t  you?”  we  all  understood  that  he 
meant  for  us  to  come  armed  ;  said  that 
those  who  did  not  have  horses  must 
borrow  from  those  who  had  more  than 
one ;  the  club  agreed  to  come  to  Clinton 
—  elected  their  officers  —  formed  two 
companies — William  Jones,  Captain  of 
one  company,  and  James  Richards, 
Captain  of  tine  other ;  did  not  see  the 
companies  going,  but  saw  some  of  the 
men  returning,  and  they  told  me  that  the 
companies  did  go  to  Clinton  on  Saturday, 
the  4th  ;  saw  them  returning  home  on 
Sunday  morning  ;  the  men  told  me  they 
had  been  in  the  fight  on  Saturday  ;  they 
said  they  did  not  know  what  it  started 
about ;  said  white  folks  trying  to  run 
over  the  black  folks,  but  we  showed  them 
bet  than  that. 

his 

Silas  X  Thomas, 
mark. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me,  this 
9th  day  of  September,  1875. 

Silas  J.  Carey,  J,P. 


Statement  of  P.  H.  Hooker  : 

I  was  standing  in  front  of  the  speaker’s 
stand  during  Judge  Johnston’s  speech, 
to  which  very  little  attention  was  paid  by 
the  negroes  and  radicals  ;  when  Fisher 
commenced  speaking,  I  changed  my 
position,  and  in  moving,  met  a  negro  who 
told  me  that  some  loud  balking,  which 
was  heard,  was  between  a  white  man  and 
a  negro ;  the  loud  talk,  or  quarreling, 
increased  until  the  drums  commenced 
to  beat  a  rally,  when  I  left  my  position, 
and  immediately  the  firing  commenced, 
and  it  seemed  a  100  shots  were  fired  ;  I 
then  crossed  the  railroad  and  halted, when 
a  negro  man  near  by  exclaimed,  “  What  j 
are  those  boys  doing,”  and  commenced  | 
to  cry  out,  “Rally,  boys,  rally,  boys  I J 
then  started  for  home,  and  had  gone  about 1 
a  mile  from  the  grounds,  when  young 
Thompson, who  was  killed,  passed  me  rid¬ 
ing  furiously  from  the  scene  ;  about  a  half 
mile  further  on  I  passed  Thompson  ;  he 
told  me  he  was  badly  wounded  in  the  leg  ; 
we  started  on  to  trv  to  get  to  Mr. 


Campbell’s ;  Thompson  spoke  of  no 
other  wounds ;  we  galloped  on  and  I 
in  front,  but  when  I  got  to  Mr. 
Campbell’s  and  looked  back  for  Thomp¬ 
son,  I  saw  nothing  of  him  ;  when  I  last 
saw  him  he  was  a  mile  and  a  half 
from  the  barbecue  grounds. 

P.  H.  Hooker. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me, 
this  9th  day  of  September,  1875. 

[seal]  Silas  J.  Carey,  J.P. 

Statement  of  Ramsey  Wharton,  Jr., 
as  to  the  difficulty  at  the  Republican 
meeting  at  Clinton,  on  the  4th  of  Septem¬ 
ber,  .1875  : 

I  cannot  state  from  my  personal  know- 
lege  how  this  difficulty  commenced,  as  I 
was  standing  only  a  short  distance  from 
the  speaker’s  stand,  where  it  was  said  to 
have  begun  ;  I  then  noticed  a  rush  among 
the  crowd  of  negroes  towards  the  wagon, 
in  which  I,  with  others,  came  from 
|  Raymond ,  which  was  about  7 5  or  100  yards 
;  from  the  speaker’s  stand,  and  went  in  the 
|  same  direction;  many  of  these  negroes  were 
i  shouting,  “Go  for  the  Raymond  boys; 
i  kill  them,”  etc.;  about  fifteen  or  twenty 
!  steps  from  the  wagon  I  overtook  Charles 
|  Caldwell,  Sr.,  colored,  when  I  asked  him 
j  io  try  and  stop  the  fuss;  he  then  said, 
i  “Gentlemen,  for  God’s  sake  stand  back,” 

;  or  used  some  such  language  ;  I  did  not  then 
have  a  pistol  in  my  hand,  nor  did  I  ex¬ 
hibit  a  pistol  until  after  I  was  shot  in  my 
head  by  a  negro  man  who  was  only  three 
or  four  feet  from  me  ;  at  this  time  I  was 
standing  near  this  wagon  from  Raymond, 
and  talking  to  said  Caldwell ;  I  did  not 
hear  any  firing  until  after  the  drum  was 
beat,  when  the  firing  commenced  ;  I  do 
not  know  who  fired  the  first  shot ;  I  did 
not  exhibit  a  pistol  until  after  I  was 
wounded,  as  before  stated,  and  then  used 
it  for  the  protection  of  my  life  ;  after  I 
was  shot,  I  was  knocked  down  and 
stamped  by  negroes,  and  I  am  satisfied  I 
would  have  been  killed  by  them,  when 
on  my  way  to  Clinton,  after  this  fighting 
was  over,  but  for  the  interposition  of 
Pliram  Turner,  a  colored  man,  who  lives 
near  Raymond,  who  used  his  influence 
with  the  negroes  for  the  protection  of 
the  lives  of  Yasser  Shearer  and  myself. 


20 


The  Clinton  Riot 


I  am  nearly  twenty  years  of  age,  and  a 
native  of  Hinds  county,  Miss. 

Bamsey  Wharton. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me,  a 
Justice  of  the  Peace  for  Hinds  county, 
Miss.,  Sept.  10th,  1875. 

[seal]  J.  W.  Covington,  J.P. 

Sworn  statement  of  T.  G.  Bice,  a 
merchant  in  the  town  of  Clinton,  Miss.: 

I  was  on  the  grounds  on  the  4th  inst., 
where  the  difficulty  occurred.  While  Mr. 
Fisher  was  speaking  I  heard  loud  talk¬ 
ing  in  a  bottom  some  one  hundred  yards 
from  the  stand,  and  saw  a  great  number 
of  negroes  running  down  ;  I  at  once 
went  down  myself ;  when  I  got  there  I 
found  five  or  six  white  boys,  among  whom 
were  Martin  Sivley  and  Frank  Thomp¬ 
son  ;  in  front  of  whom  were  about  a 
hundred  negroes  pursuing  them,  and  the 
boys  gradually  giving  away — going  back 
thirty  or  forty  feet ;  about  this  time  the 
“  long  roll'7  was  beat,  when  the  whole 
crowd  of  negroes  rushed  down  ;  many 
drawing  their  pistols  before  they  reached 
the  bottom,  and  many  crying  in  loud 
voices,  “  come  here,  men,”  “  come  here, 
men  ”  ;  I  did  not  see  a  single  white  man 
come  down ;  I  believe  that  every  white 
man  who  was  engaged  in  the  difficulty 
were  the  boys  of  whom  I  have  spoken  ; 
before  a  single  shot  was  fired  Martin 
►Sivley  broke  suddenly  through  the  crowd 
as  if  he  had  escaped  from  some  one  who 
was  holding  him  ;  immediately  after¬ 
ward  the  firing  began  in  the  crowd  from 
which  he  had  escaped ;  when  the  firing 
began  the  whole  mass  of  negroes  were 
around  the  boys  before  spoken  of,  having 
pressed  them  back  until  the  boys  were  j 
entirely  surrounded  by  negroes  on  every  j 
side  ;  the  negroes  cursing  them  and  cry-  ! 
ing  “shoot  them,”  “kill  them;”  the 
’only  shot  which  I  distintly  saw  fired,  was 
a  colored  man  firing  at  a  white  man  who 
was  running,  though  I  heard  a  great 
number  of  shots.  When  the  firing  be¬ 
gan  I  was  pressed  back  and  the  crowd 
scattered  ;  1  could  not  see  the  white  boys 
any  more  ;  I  mounted  my  horse  and  rode 
opto  where  the  dinner  tables  were  spread, 
when  an  old  servant  of  mine  came  up 
and  begged  me  for  God's  sake  to  leave 


the  grounds  for  they  would  kill  me  if  I 
remained  ;  it  was  after  the  crowd  had 
scattered  that  I  saw  a  negro  following  a 
white  man  and  firing  on  him  ;  I  showed 
no  arms  on  the  ground  ;  I  went  down  to 
where  the  boys  were  to  try  to  stop  the 
difficulty,  but  found  it  impossible  to  reach 
them  in  consequence  of  the  immense 
crowd  around  them  ;  on  my  way  to  town 
I  met  citizens  of  the  town  going  out  with 
guns,  but  heard  no  firing  afterward.  I 
do  not  think  there  were  over  seventy-five 
white  men,  young  and  old,  on  the  ground 
that  day — most  of  whom  were  unarmed. 
I  am  certain  not  over  ten  white  men  fired 
a  pistol  on  the  grounds  that  day.  I  am 
certain  there  were  between  1200  or  1500 
colored  men  on  the  ground.  I  was  told 
by  the  citizens  who  went  out  with  guns 
that  they  did  not  fire  a  shot  because  they 
found  all  quiet  when  then  got  there.  I 
understood  from  the  cries  “shoot  them,” 
“kill  them,77  that  the  meaning  was  shoot 
every  white  man,  for  immediately  a  ne¬ 
gro  reached  up  to  me  and  put  his  pistol 
in  my  breast  though  I  had  shown  no 
arms  ;  he  demanded  my  arms ;  I  told 
him  I  had  a  pistol  but  had  not  used  it, 
and  would  not  give  it  up. 

T.  G.  Bice. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me  on 
this  9th  day  of  September,  1875. 

[l.  s.]  Silas  J.  Carey.  J.P. 

In  and  for  the  county  of  Hinds  and 
State  of  Mississippi. 


Statement  of  Jesse  Wharton  in  rela¬ 
tion  to  the  difficulties  at  the  Bepublican 
meeting  at  Clinton,  Miss.,  on  the  4th 
day  of  September,  1875: 

Shortly  after  H.  T.  Fisher  commenced 
speaking,  I,  in  company  with  Mr.  V. 
Waddill,  from  Baymond,  started  from 
near  the  speakers7  stand  to  go  to  the 
wagon  in  which  some  young  men  came 
from  Baymond  ;  on  the  way,  we  were 
met  by  a  negro  man  on  horseback,  whose 
manner  indicated  a  purpose  either  to  ride 
against  or  over  us  ;  just  as  he  passed, 
Mr.  Waddill  said,  “  watch,”  or  “  look 
out  where  you  are  riding,”  and  showed  a 
disposition  to  stop, but,  fearing  this  might 
lead  to  some  difficulty  or  disturbance,  I 


The  Clinton  Riot . 


21 


succeeded  in  getting  him  on  to  this  wagon 
from  Raymond;  neither  Mr.  Waddill 
nor  I,  at  this  time,  exhibited  a  pistol  or 
any  other  weapon  ;  shortly  after  we  (Mr. 
W.  and  I)  arrived  at  this  wagon,  I  saw  a 
crowd  of  negroes  running  from  towards 
the  speakers’  stand  in  the  direction  of 
this  wagon,  with  pistols  in  the  hands  of 
many  of  them  ;  Charles  Caldwell,  senior, 
colored,  was  in  advance  of  this  crowd  ;  I 
then  advanced  towards  said  Charles 
Caldwell,  senior,  when  he  was  about  fif¬ 
teen  or  twenty  steps  from  this  wagon,  and 
asked  him  what  was  the  matter  ;  he  made 
no  reply  to  this  question,  as  others  were 
talking  to  him  at  the  same  time  ;  I  then 
asked  him,  said  Caldwell,  to  stop  his 
men,  or  hold  them  back,  saying,  “  we 
did  not  come  here  to  have  a  fuss  or  a 
row”;  said  Caldwell  then  raised  his 
hands  and  said,  “  for  God’s  sake,  boys, 
hold  on,”  or  used  some  such  language; 
the  crowd  of  negroes  was  still  pressing 
on  in  the  direction  of  this  wagon  from 
Raymond,  which  forced  me,  by  backing  j 
before  it,  beyond  the  wagon ;  I  then 
heard  the  beating  on  the  drum,  and  im¬ 
mediately  after  the  beating  of  the  drum 
the  firing  commenced  ;  I  can’t  say  of  my 
own  knowledge  who  fired  the  first  pistol,  j 
or  shot;  I  did  not  exhibit  a  pistol  until 
after  two  or  three  shots  had  been  fired, 
nor  until  after  I  heard  the  negroes  shout, 
•‘go  for  the  Raymond  boys — kill  every 
damned  son  of  a  bitch  of  them,”  or  some  | 
such  language ;  after  this,  I  used  my 
pistol  to  protect  and  defend  my  life  ;  I 
was  twice  knocked  down  bv  the  negroes, 
and  stamped  by  them ;  after  I  was 
knocked  down  and  stamped  the  second 
time,  and  when  much  stunned  bv  the 
blows,  my  life  was  protected  by  a  colored 
man  named  Hubbard  Strange,  who  lives 
near  Raymond,  who  put  me  in  a  buggy 
and  took  me  to  Mr.  Neal’s  residence,  near 

Clinton ;  I  cannot  state  of  mv  own 

«/ 

knowledge  whether  the  first  shot  was  fired 
by  a  negro  or  white  man  ;  I  am  twenty- 
two  years  of  age,  and  a  native  of  Hinds 
county,  Miss. 

,J.  Wharton. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me,  a 
Justice  of  the  Peace  of  Hinds  county, 
Mississippi,  on  this  18th  day  of  Septem¬ 


ber,  1875.  Witness  my  hand  and  seal. 

J.  W.  Covington,  J.P.  [seal.] 

State  of  Mississippi,') 
County  of  Hinds,  j 

Personally  appeared  before  the  under¬ 
signed,  Notary  Public,  of  the  cityr  of 
Jackson,  H.  O.  Dixon,  who  on  oath 
states  that  on  the  day  of  the  riot  at  Clin¬ 
ton  he  was  in  Jackson  and  arrived  at 
home  about  5  o’clock  that  evening,  4th 
September,  that  his  home  is  about  four 
miles  from  Clinton,  that  he  met  W.  H. 
Harney,  Sheriff  of  Hinds  county,  on 
Wednesday  after  said  difficulty,  in  the 
city  of  Jackson,  and  that  in  conversation 
about  the  difficulty  at  Clinton  Harney 
said  to  him  that  they  (the  negroes) 
seemed  determined  to  have  a  fuss,  and 
that  he  tried  to  quiet  them,  but  found 
it  impossible  to  do  so,  and  that  he  (Har¬ 
ney)  h  ft  the  grounds,  and  that  the  firing 
commenced  shortly  after  he  left. 

H.  O.  Dixon. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me  this 
11th  day  of  September,  1875. 

[seal.]  W.  H.  H.  Green, 

Notary  Public. 

Sworn  statement  of  John  B.  Abou  : 

I  am  a  merchant  in  Clinton,  and  an 
old  citizen  of  the  place  ;  for  several  days 
before  the  Republican  meeting  near 
Clinton,  on  the  4th  day  of  September, 
1875,  I  had  seen  notices  announcing  that 
there  would  be  a  joint  discussion  at  the 
meeting  ;  between  8  and  10  o’clock,  A.  m. 
on  the  4th  inst. ,  I  closed  my  store  and 
went  home  ;  my  house  is  on  one  of  the 
main  streets  of  the  town  ;  the  procession 
of  negroes,  said  to  be  the  crowd  from 
Edwards  depot,  about  250  or  300  strong, 
mounted,  passed  my  house  ;  I  have  seen 
many  processions  of  negroes  through  this 
town  during  the  last  eight  years,  hi  t 
never  saw  them  so  boisterous,  and  be 
ligerant  in  their  acts  and  words  before  ; 
1  observed  that  nearly  all  of  them  were 
armed  with  pistols  buckled  around  them  ; 
I  heard  many  such  expressions  like  this, 
“I  would  like  to  see  a  Democrat;” 
“damn  the  Democrats;”  “What  do  they 
call  this  place?” — “we  can  clean  it 
out  by  ourselves.”  So  confident  was  I, 


The  Clinton  Idol. 


4)9 


after  witnessing  their  conduct,  and  hear- 
ing  their  declarations,  that  there  would 
be  a  difficulty  that  I  did  not  go  to  the 
grounds  where  the  speaking  was  and 
cautioned  others  to  keep  away  ;  I  think 
over  fifty  or  seventy-five  whites,  young 
and  old,  went  to  the  speaking,  so  far  as 
I  know  ;  I  saw  no  arms  among  the  whites  ; 
they  were  quiet  and  respectful  to  all  ; 
my  attention  was  called  to  the  fight  by 
hearing  firing  ;  I  ran  out  of  my  house 
and  saw  the  crowd  scattering  over  the  i 
field  ;  a  white  man  ran  by  me  asking  for 
arms,  saying  “they  are  murdering  our 
people  I  ran  to  my  store  and  got  my 
gun  and  remained  to  defend  the  town  if 
it  should  be  attacked. 

J.  B.  Abou. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me  this  j 
the  9th  day  of  September,  1875. 

[seal.]  Silas  J.  Carey,  J.  P. 


Sworn  statements  of  S.  S.  Hubbard,  C. 
W.  Grafton,  and  James  W.  Lowry  : 

We  all  reside  in  the  vicinity  of  Auburn, 
Hinds  county — all  farmers — and  were 
all  present  at  Haifa’s  School-house,  eight 
days  before  the  Clinton  difficulty,  at  a 
meeting  of  the  Auburn  Republican  Club 
— sometimes  called  the  Oak  Ridge  Club, 
and  sometimes  Spring  Ridge  Club.  After 
the  club  adjourned,  the  men  constituting 
the  club,  appointed  two  men  Captains 
to  raise  two  companies — each  company  to 
have  one  hundred  men — and  then  go  into 
election  of  Lieutenants  and  minor  officers, 
and  then  to  meet  other  companies  at  Mt. 
Moriah  Church,  three  miles  south  of 
Edwards  Depot,  and  form  a  regiment 
and  elect  a  Colonel — all  for  the  purpose 
of  going  to  Clinton,  the  4th  September, 
1875. 

S.  S.  Hubbard, 

C.  W.  Grafton, 

J.  W.  Lowry,  Rep. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me, 
this  10th  September,  A.  D.,  1875. 

[seal]  J.  W.  Covington,  J.P. 

State  of  Mississippi,  ( 
Hinds  County,  j 

I,  Silas  J.  Carey,  a  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  in  and  for  said  county,  hereby 


certify  that  I  was  personally  present  dur¬ 
ing  the  taking  of  the  sworn  statements 
of  most  of  the  depositions,  to  which  my 
certificates  are  appended,  and  believe 
that  the  same  were  taken  in  a  spirit  of 
fairness  ;  that  the  statements  were  volun¬ 
tarily  given,  and  are,  from  the  character 
of  the  deponents,  worthy  of  credit ;  I  am 
a  Republican,  and  am  not  moved  by  any 
partizan  spirit  in  giving  this  certificate, 
but  a  desire  to  do  justice. 

Given  under  my  hand  this  12th  day  of 
September,  1875. 

]seal.]  Silas  J.  Carey,  J.  P. 


THE  NORTHERN  PRESS  ON  THE  RAD¬ 
ICAL  RIOTS  IN  MISSISSIPPI. 

NT.  Y.  Tribune.  Liberal  Rep.] 

The  attempt  of  Gov.  Ames  to  secure 
military  intervention  in  behalf  of  his 
party  in  the  pending  important  political 
campaign  in  Mississippi  promises  to  be  a 
signal  failure.  All  the  proceedings  fol¬ 
lowing  the  Clinton  riot  have  served  to 
bring  out  more  clearly  the  entire  in  com¬ 
petency  of  this  man  for  his  present  po¬ 
sition.  And  yet  with  such  an  Attorney- 
General  as  we  had  a  year  ago  he  might 
have  had  United  States  troops  now  rov¬ 
ing  over  Mississippi  at  his  bidding,  mak¬ 
ing  domiciliary  visits  at  midnight  and 
dragging  peaceable  citizens  miles  away 
from  home  to  stand  trial  for  imaginary 
offenses.  The  like  was  seen  in  Louisiana 
and  Alabama,  it  will  be  remembered,  just 
before  the  elections  of  November,  1874. 

* *  *  *  *  *  It  would 

be  well  if  the  people  of  Mississippi  were 
to  choose  a  Governor  as  well  as  a  Legis¬ 
lature  next  month. 

Baltimore  Sun  (Independent;. 

It  is  impossible  not  to  feel  sorry  for 
|  Governor  Ames,  of  Mississippi,  so  com¬ 
pletely  and  quietly  have  both  he  and  his 
insurrection  been  suppressed.  It  is  the 
first  time  in  the  history  of  the  South  that 
|  an  “insurrection'’  has  been  put  down 
without  troops.  The  abundant  caution 
of  the  Attorney-General  in  dealing  with 
the  matter  has  borne  fruit,  the  result  be¬ 
ing  to  illustrate  the  absurdity  of  the  case. 


The  Clinton  Riot 


Philadelphia  Times  (Independent). 

Pierrepont  may  be  a  better  lawyer  than 
Williams,  but  he  can’t  run  an  outrage 
mill.  And  here  are  elections  coming  off, 
and  no  troops.  It  is  too  bad. 

C  i  n  c  i  n  n  a  t  i  Com  m  e  r  c  i  a  I  ( Re  p  u  bli  c  a  n ) . 

It  would  be  a  wholesome  tiling  for  the 
peace  of  the  State  if  General  Butler 
could  persuade  his  son-in-law,  Governor 
Ames,  of  Mississippi,  to  become  his  pri¬ 
vate  secretary,  or  take  charge  of  the 
clerical  business  of  the  office. 

St.  Louis  Globe-Dem.  (ultra  Radical.) 

Governor  Ames’  assertion  that  the  in¬ 
terference  which  he  calls  for  is  necessary 
is  flatly  contradicted  by  the  evidence  of 
those  who  have  quite  as  good  a  claim 
upon  our  trust  as  he  has,  and  who  would 
not  be  likely  to  deny  the  existence  of  such 
necessity  if  they  thought  it  really  existed. 
There  is,  however,  a  very  easy  test  of 
Gov.  Ames’  sincerity  in  the  matter,  and 
one  which  it  might  be  well  to  apply  in  all 
such  cases.  If  the  Governor  is  unable 
to  maintain  his  authority;  if,  with  all  the 
prestige  of  possession,  all  the  influence  of 
patronage,  all  the  organization  of  power 
and  the  support  of  the  law-abiding  citi¬ 
zens,  he  is  still  unable  to  command  obe¬ 
dience  or  to  enforce  the  law,  then  let  him 
step  aside  and  wholly  withdraw  until  the 
central  authority  has  finally  succeeded  in 
doing  that  which  he  has  failed  to  do.  It 
can  make  but  little  difference  to  any  one 
but  himself  when  a  man  who  is  nominally 
a  Governor,  but  really  a  cipher,  is  com¬ 
pelled  to  realize  the  existence  of  that  im¬ 
potence  which  he  has  admitted;  and  the 
direct  relegation  of  an  anarchic  State  to 
military  subjection  would  have  many  ad¬ 
vantages. 

New  York  Times  (Rep.) 

Attorney-General  Pierrepont  seems  to 
reduce  Gov.  Ames’  Mississippi  “insurrec¬ 
tion”  to  very  small  dimensions.  His  ad¬ 
vices  are  that  there  are  no  disturbances 
of  any  consequence  in  the  State,  and  his 
opinion  is  that  such  disturbances  as  exist 
must  be  dealt  with  by  the  Governor  in 
the  first  instance,  and  until  his  power  is 
absolutely  exhausted.  This  is  good  law 
and  common  sense,  and  is  the  position 


with  reference  to  this  class  of  questions 
which  we  have  repeatedly  had  occasion 
to  urge  on  the  National  Administration. 
The  country  will  receive  the  expressions 
of  Mr.  Pierrepont  with  entire  satisfaction. 


Norihfi'Ji  §Sejml>Iic;aisi  :m cl  iud*'- 
posftdMu.t  CFplBJucBii.  ssjjK>s«  flli« 
Conduct  of  ^lioreruor 
Arnes. 


From  die  Philadelphia  Press,  (Rep.)l 

The  administration  of  Gov.  Ames,  a 
carpet-bagger  and  political  adventurer, 
has  done  much  to  disorganize  society  and 
teach  general  contempt  for  all  authority 
in  Mississippi.  The  disorder  is  palpably 
the  result  of  a  corrupt  and  powerless 
government,  that  has  taught  its  ignorant 
negro  dependents  that  they  were  above 
the  law  in  a  struggle  with  the  whites,  and 
they  have  made  the  common  mistake  of 
taking  the  leaders  at  their  word. 

The  Chicago  Tribune,  (Rep.) 

The  President  and  the  Attorney -Gen¬ 
eral  have,  in  their  letters  on  the  appeal 
of  the  Governor  of  Mississippi  for  Federal 
troops,  plainly  indicated  that  the  Ameri¬ 
can  people  are  getting  tired  of  this  South¬ 
ern  outrage  business, — this  constant  ap¬ 
peal  to  the  United  States  to  protect  able- 
bodied  men  who  will  do  nothing  to  protect 
themselves.  The  United  States  have 
made  the  blacks  citizens  ;  they  have  been 
endowed  with  every  civil  and  political 
right  that  white  men  can  claim. 

The  N.  Y.  Tribune,  (Rep.) 

There  are  some  white  people  in  Mis¬ 
sissippi.  There  is  no  evidence  except  in 
Gov.  Ames’s  excited  imagination  that 
they  have  interfered  or  intend  to  inter¬ 
fere  with  the  people  whom  he  is  so  anx¬ 
ious  to  protect.  The  belief  is  coining  to 
be  quite  general  that  except  for  the  con¬ 
stant  interference  of  such  men  as  Gov. 
Ames  between  the  two  races  there  would 
be  not  only  no  occasion  for  troops  but  no 
disturbance  whatever  of  their  friendly 
relations.  It  does  not  look  well  for  such 
men  to  be  clamoring  for  troops  when¬ 
ever  an  election  is  at  hand  which  affects 
their  own  political  fortunes. 

We  say  this  in  all  kindness,  and  with 


24 


The  Clinton  Riot. 


no  disposition  to  detract  011c  iota  from 
the  moral  grandeur  of  Goy.  Ames’s  po¬ 
sition  when  he  invokes  upon  his  own  head 
“  the  odium  in  all  its  magnitude.”  And 
our  advice  to  the  Admininistration  is,  to 
let  the  odium  descend  rather  than  the 

troops. 

X.  Y.  Herald  [Independent]. 

If  the  President  will  only  lend  Gover¬ 
nor  Ames  United  States  troops,  the  Gov¬ 
ernor  will  take  all  the  responsibility  !  It 
is  astonishing  how  ready  he  is  to  be  re¬ 
sponsible.  “  Let  the  -odium  in  all  its 
magnitude  descend  upon  me,”  he  tele¬ 
graphs  ;  and  it  is  quite  remarkable  that 
General  Grant  and  the  Attorney-General 
have  been  able  to  resist  a  solicitation  so 
grandly  worded. 

Meantime  what  becomes  of  Governor 
Ames’  responsibility  for  his  own  duties? 
He  is  Governor  of  Mississippi  ;  lie  has 
shamefully  neglected  the  duties  and 
shirked  the  responsibilities  of  that  place. 
During  the  past  summer  lie  was  absent 
from  Jackson  for  several  months,  and 
left  in  his  place  the  ignorant  colored 
Lieutenant-Governor,  who  is  openly ! 
charged  with  having  released  criminals 
for  a  bribe.  Nor  is  this  all.  Governor 
Ames  is  charged  by  Republicans  in  Mis¬ 
sissippi  with  favoring  and  consorting  with 
the  most  corrupt  men  in  his  party,  black 
and  white  ;  advancing  their  political  for¬ 
tunes,  favoring  their  schemes  and  making 
them  his  political  allies.  He  has  done  a 
great  deal  to  make  the  Republicans  odious 
in  Mississippi ;  he  has  helped  to  bring  to 
the  top  in  his  party  ignorant  black  and 
low  white  demagogues,  who  mislead  the  ; 
poor  negroes,  and  persuade  them  to  vote  j 
for  corrupt  men  and  measures.  If  to-day  ! 
there  is  in  Mississippi  a  deep  feeling  of 
resentment  against  the  Republican  party, 
this  is  owing  more  to  Governor  Ames’ 
misconduct  than  to  any  other  cause.  If 
a  large  number  of  the  white  people  are 
alienated  from  the  Republican  party 
there,  it  is  because  they  have  been  re¬ 
pelled  by  the  robbery  and  corruption 
which  the  Republican  Governor  has ; 
countenanced. 

And  now  that  he  has  raised  the  storm, 
he  would  like  Federal  troops  to  help  him 


to  quell  it.  He  has  done  nothing  which 
a  Governor  ought  to  do  to  maintain  peace 
in  the  State.  One  of  his  own  part)7,  ex- 
Senator  Pease,  has  notified  the  Attorney- 
General  that  good  citizens  of  both  par¬ 
ties  are  obtainable  in  every  county  to 
preserve  order.  But  the  Governor  does 
not  want  this.  What  he  wants,  and  what 
he  needs  for  his  political  purposes,  is  to 
appear  to  the  negroes  to  command  Fede¬ 
ral  troops.  If  he  is  merely  Governor,  if 
he  relies  only  on  the  civil  force  and  on 
his  power  as  Governor,-  they  will  desert 
him.  If  he  can  persuade  them,  however, 
that  he  is  the  confidant  and  representa¬ 
tive  of  General  Grant,  that  he  can  have 
Federal  troops  at  will,  then  they  will 
flock  around  him  and  make  him  Senator. 
If  the  President  continues  to  refuse  the 
use  of  troops,  the  Governor’s  power  over 
the  negro  leaders  will  be  broken.  In 
that  caae,  and  not  otherwise,  there  will 
he  a  chance  for  an  honest  administration 
and  an  honest  Republican  party  in  Mis¬ 
sissippi,  It  is  a  ring  of  the  worst  de¬ 
scription  which  is  calling  for  troops  down 
there. 

EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE 
Of  the  Democratic-Conservative  Party  of 
the  State  of  Mississippi. 


FOR  STATE  AT  LARGE. 

Gen.  J.  Z.  George,  Chairman,  Jackson. 


J.  D.  Vertner,  Esq., . Port  Gibson. 

Hon.  H.  M.  Street, . Booueville. 


FOR  CONGRESSIONAL  DISTRICTS. 

1st— W.  H.  H.  Tison, . Baldwyn. 

A.  T.  Roane, . Pittsboro. 

2d — H.  H.  Chalmers, . Hernando. 

E.  C.  Walthall, . Grenada. 

3d — Thos.  B.  Sykes, . Aberdeen. 

John  A.  Binford, . Duck  Hill. 

4th — W.  A.  Percy, . Greenville. 

J.  A.  P.  Campbell, . Canton. 

5th — E.  Richardson, . Jackson. 

U.  M.  Young, . Vicksburg. 

6th — J.  B.  Chrisman, . Brookhaven, 

Roderick  Seal, . Mississippi  City. 


Marion  Smith,  Jackson,  Secretary. 


